Ghosts
by RosieB
Summary: After Naraku's death, Kagome returned to her time forever, where she mourns her losses. An older Sesshoumaru offers a deal - a comfortable and secure marriage in return for a child. They'll never love anyone - including each other - again, right?
1. We're in This Together

A/N: This is a continuation of my one-shot, "My Obligation" from ages ago (under "The Cricket's Cage" collection on FFN and Dokuga). You don't need to have read that in order to understand this short series.

I'm writing this series for the Dokuga LJ comm's Child's Play Challenge - nine stories that go along with a children's rhyme or game. Since there were nine prompts, I couldn't resist - the titles are all Nine Inch Nails song titles.

Prompt: Ring Around the Rosie  
Genre: Romance, Drama  
AU/CU: Canon, as long as you ignore the last bits of the manga :)  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Mention of character death, fluff later on, angst  
Word Count: 2522

We're In This Together

It was all so lovely. The shrine had never looked so good - drenched in cherry blossoms and flowering sprigs of dogwood, it rivaled the city's festivals. The God Tree stretched out above her head, hung with white paper lanterns that emitted a soft light, so that every guest glittered. Everyone smiled and danced and blushed prettily in the warm spring night.

And they all kept glancing at her. Kagome had refused several gracious offers from dress-makers around the world and had chosen to wear her mother's kimono. Her mother's reaction as she had come down the stairs had been enough to tell her that she had made the right decision. She knew she was just as lovely as the shrine, just as she should be.

Yes, it was everything that a little girl would dream of for her wedding day. Except the groom, of course.

She looked up at him, where he stood quiet and listening to the group of men that surrounded him. They were throwing back drinks and trading off the job of going to the open bar, but the one in the center - her _husband_ - stood with only one glass of white wine which he did not lift to his lips at all. He kept his wits about him. Even now his clear eyes flickered towards her, meeting her gaze for a moment before moving back to his companions. He didn't miss much.

"Kagome?"

The miko - former miko, as she was married now - blinked and saw Ayumi standing beside her. "Oh, hey."

"Why don't you join us over there?" suggested her friend, gesturing towards Yuka and Eri, who were watching them. "You look lonely! The bride shouldn't be lonely!"

Kagome gave her a faint smile. "No, I'm not lonely. My feet hurt, is all." She got up, gathering the folds of her blue, embroidered kimono in her hands. She no longer wore the bridal kimono - tradition dictated that she change multiple times during the ceremony to show off her family's wealth, and her groom had ensured the illusion of a far more prosperous shrine than they actually had. She was fortunate, she reminded herself, that her new husband was generous with his money. Her family would never want for anything again - reason number two-hundred-and-seventy-three why this had been for the best.

"Well, you've had enough relaxing," Ayumi said, linking elbows with the bride and leading her through the crowd. "There are so many people here! Do you know them all?"

"No. I barely know anyone here. They're mostly... um, my husband's business contacts. Once we invited one, we had to invite them all." She shrugged. "The whole thing got a bit out of hand, actually. I was thinking of a small wedding."

Ayumi shook her head. "No way! You couldn't have done that. A big wedding was just what you needed. It must have been..." She faltered.

"Distracting?" Kagome suggested.

"Fun," Ayumi finished firmly. "It must have been fun to plan."

Kagome nodded. "My mom had a blast." She saw Ayumi's saddened glance out of the corner of her eye. "I liked eating the cake samples," she added.

Her friend pressed her lips together into a line, but said nothing. It was usual for Ayumi to keep silent rather than to press for information. Yuka and Eri were not so delicate. "Kagome, there you are!" Yuka exclaimed, although they had been watching her all this time. "You need to introduce us to your new husband, you know."

"I can't believe we were gone for all the wedding planning. Ayumi has been telling us all about it, and we're so jealous! You could have waited a little longer and let us help you know," Eri chided with a grin. "So, how about that introduction?"

It was possible that her friends had become even more brazen now that they were off to college. Kagome gave them an indulgent smile that she didn't quite feel. "I will. Later. He's busy right now."

"Those are people he works with," Ayumi supplied.

"Oh," Yuka said, looking over at the group of men. Kagome realized that her husband had been less of the object than his companions. It was far more difficult to worm one's way in with a friend's husband's coworkers than his friends. Yuka's shoulders slumped a little. "Well, tell us about him then. Ayumi doesn't tell us _anything_ good."

"He's very handsome," Eri said, leaning to the side a bit to catch a glimpse. "He looks like..."

"They're brothers," Kagome cut in, before anyone could say _that_ name. "Sesshoumaru is his brother. Half-brother, actually."

"What's with his arm?" Yuka asked, and they all looked at the prosthetic at the dog demon's side. She bit her lip, looking abashed for a moment. "Sorry. I mean, was he in the car too, with you and... and...?" She bit her lip.

Ayumi brushed her hand across the back of Kagome's arm, letting the bride remain quiet. "No. He lost his arm a long time ago, before Kagome's accident."

"How?" The word was hushed, as if Kagome wasn't still standing there.

"A car accident," the former miko said, wincing inwardly at how ridiculous that all sounded. That had been Sesshoumaru's explanation for so long, and her grandfather didn't exactly confer with the dog demon when he had to make up an excuse for Kagome's injuries. The supposed coincidence was one they would have to live with. "You know, another one. Earlier. Much earlier. They have really bad luck with car accidents in his family," she added with an uneasy smile.

"I guess so," breathed Eri.

They all stood in silence for a moment. "Do you love him?"

"Yuka!" Ayumi's mouth dropped open. "She's _married _to him!" She looked at new bride. "You don't have to answer that, Kagome."

Kagome took a breath and then smiled at her friends. "Don't be silly, you two. I would only get married if I were truly in love."

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His entire staff had the night off - the next two weeks off, actually - so it was Sesshoumaru that fetched the extra linens from the hallway closet. He put the bedsheets down on the dresser, a carved oak piece that, although beautiful, didn't quite match the modern art on the walls. The entire room was a mish-mash of style. It was surprising to see in the house of someone so particular as the taiyoukai, and he didn't miss her glance around the large space. "Gifts," he explained.

"Someone gave you a dresser?"

He nodded. "In celebration of when I took my last mate."

Kagome didn't waste time on sympathy for either of the two females that Sesshoumaru had taken into his household before her - he certainly didn't. "Well, I don't think we have any dressers in that pile of presents we left at the shrine," she said.

"One can hope. I only keep it because the youkai that gave it to me still visits on occasion."

The bride flipped back the duvet and shook out the fitted sheet. "Maybe you can use me as an excuse. I can develop a sudden hatred of nineteenth century furniture."

"Perhaps." He bent and tucked his side of the sheet underneath the mattress with sharp efficiency.

Kagome unfolded the flat sheet, and Sesshoumaru took the other edge automatically. She gave him a shy grin. "I never thought I'd see you doing something as mundane as making a bed."

"I have done a great many mundane things in the last five centuries," he commented, although the lift of his eyebrow told her that he wasn't being snide. "I expect this will be the last time you witness it, however. I have maids for a reason."

"I guess they just didn't expect that I would be sleeping in the guest room tonight." She flushed and turned her face away under the pretense of creasing a hospital corner into the sheet. "I didn't expect it either, to tell the truth."

He stood straight and studied her for a moment. "I thought that for the first night..."

"I appreciate it," she interrupted with a smile. She pulled the duvet back over the foot of the bed and sat down, letting her high heels slip off her feet. Her going-away outfit was a smart, little, red dress that she adored, but her shoes had been killing her. She flexed her feet and winced as one calf protested her movement.

"Is it bothering you?" Sesshoumaru came around the edge of the bed.

Kagome drew her knew up to her chest and ran a finger along the ridge of scar tissue that wrapped almost the entire way around her lower leg. "It just gets stiff. The doctor said it would do that for at least a year."

"Longer," the taiyoukai said. "The demon that tore your muscle was poisonous. I told you once that it will always feel weak in comparison to your other leg."

She nodded, remembering that conversation from the very first night they had been reunited in this era. It created a mixture of guilt and relief that the physical pain Sesshoumaru had warned her about now outweighed the wrenching depression that the scar had once sparked. She could still see that battlefield in her mind when she felt the ridge of tough tissue, and she could hear Inuyasha begging her to live and to stay as she made her wish on the completed Jewel. She remembered the terrifying sensation of literally fading away, out of the Feudal Era and into the well house of modern times. It had taken the better part of year for the memories to not cause an outburst of tears.

Sesshoumaru circled the tiny, round table in the middle of the room. Its single leg was so spindly that the vase of roses in the center wobbled from the moving air as he passed. "It would not hurt so much if you had not tried to jump through the well again," he said.

Kagome's cheeks blushed to match the flowers. "I'm sorry. I had to try."

"Time has been sealed," he said, continuing as if she had not spoken at all. "You know that Inuyasha died. Your friends had children and died, as humans do. If you went back, what do you believe would happen here?"

She lowered her head. "I don't know."

"Neither do I," Sesshoumaru murmured, "but I do not imagine it would turn out well. If you had succeeded and seen Inuyasha again..."

"Then he would never have told you to come find me when the Jewel transported me back here with my wounds after the battle. I would have bled to death in the well house." She shifted close to the baseboard of the bed, as if it would provide shelter from her husband's unwavering stare. "He never would have told you to ask me to marry you. If I had survived here, I would have been alone. I never would have known you were alive. Or Shippo." Her head began to throb with the possibilities.

There was a moment of quiet. "Do not do it again," he said.

"No, I won't." She turned the wedding ring on her finger, letting the light catch in the diamond so that it sparkled with blues, greens and reds. "What time are we leaving tomorrow?"

"We must leave for the airport by one o'clock," the dog demon replied. He placed his real hand into his pocket. "I am going to bed."

"Alright." She saw him hesitate out of the corner of her vision, before he walked to the door. "Oh!" she cried out as the door slid open.

Sesshoumaru paused again, looking back at her. "Yes?"

"I'd forgotten, but I still..." She trailed off and got to her feet, meeting him at the doorway. Without her heels on, she was at least a foot and a half shorter than the taiyoukai, but she craned her neck up to him. "My kiss. You promised."

"If you do not want to hold yourself to your own promise, it is fine."

She gave a firm shake of her head. "No, I do. I promised I would try to be the wife you want, and that means having a child. If you kiss me every night like you promised - like you love me - that will help. Please."

Sesshoumaru bent down, and she rose up on her toes to meet him, ignoring the twitch in her calf. Except for the exchange of rings, their ceremony had been entirely Shinto. They had not kissed today.

Their lips met, and she grabbed at his shoulders for balance, wrinkling the expensive suit he wore. He could smell the spices of their wedding feast on her body and in her clothes, and he brought her close to his body, pressing together for a brief moment. Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him lift her clear off the polished wood floors. She felt the beat of his heart through the cloth that separated them and the pulse of his aura as it tangled with hers. Soon, however, her feet touched the ground again, and she was released.

"Goodnight, Kagome."

"Goodnight, Sesshoumaru."

The door closed behind him with a soft _click_, and Kagome looked around the room that would be hers for one night. Tomorrow, they would be going on their honeymoon, because that was to be expected of newly married couples, and they would be sharing that room, because that was expected too. When they returned, the staff would be there, and she would move into the lush bedroom that she still labeled in her mind as 'his' and not 'ours'.

The ring was heavy on her hand. She walked to the table with the roses and pressed her palms against the dark wood, feeling it rock beneath her touch, before removing the white gold and diamond-encrusted band. It dropped to the tabletop, and her fingers covered it.

The blooms were fresh, and she wondered who had put them there, in a room that no one knew would be used tonight. Perhaps Sesshoumaru filled his home with fresh flowers as a matter of course - the propriety of their engagement, enforced by the strangeness of their situation, hadn't allowed for many visits to her husband's vast mansion. Her familiarity with what was now her home consisted largely of the cursory tour her entire family had received after they had announced the betrothal. She realized that she had no idea how he ran his household - the household that he expected her to run.

When it came down to it, her inexperience with this house was only rivaled by her ignorance of Sesshoumaru.

Her fingers flexed over the curve of her wedding ring, but she left it on the table beside the fresh roses as she went to ready herself for bed. Before turning out the light and crawling into bed, Kagome stared at the circle of gold for another moment. "Tomorrow," she murmured, flicking the switch.

She slipped into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. And although she had thought she would be spending the night studying the ceiling, Kagome fell fast asleep within moments.


	2. La Mer

Prompt: Rain, Rain, Go Away

Genre: Romance, Drama

AU/CU: Canon, as long as you ignore the last bits of the manga :)

Rating: T

Warnings: Mention of character death, fluff later on, angst

Word Count: 2338

La Mer

"What would you like for dinner?"

He looked up from his laptop. "It is three in the afternoon."

Kagome pushed off the floor and let the hammock swing, making the ropes creak. "I know," she sighed, looking back over her shoulder at what should have been a beautiful ocean view. Instead, she could only see the low, thick blanket of storm clouds that were unleashing the torrents of rain on everything. "I thought this was the dry season."

"Sometimes nature does not conform to the rules you humans put on it."

"Cute." She stood and stretched, letting the heavy air blow around her a bit. "Maybe I'll go for a swim. At least I'll be getting soaked for fun." She looked towards the few stairs at the side of their balcony that led down to the shallow waters over which their hut was suspended. This had always been a dream of hers, to come to one of these island resorts where the sapphire ocean was literally beneath your feet, where you could step into the white sand from your own room. She had seen the beautiful pictures in all the travel brochures, but never had the money - or the willing companion - to go. To come here had been her only express request during the wedding planning, and Sesshoumaru had agreed quite easily.

"Not advisable. You will be electrocuted if a lightening bolt hits the water." His eyes were gleaming with the reflection from his screen. It was only when they had gotten on the plane three days before that Kagome had discovered her new husband had been here before. It had been raining when they landed and hadn't eased up since. What a depressing start to their marriage, she had thought.

"I thought you weren't supposed to use electrical appliances either," she replied, tapping the top of the machine.

He gestured blindly to the wall. "It's not plugged in."

She sighed and sat down at the edge of the bed. "There's nothing to do here when it's raining. We don't even have a _car_ to drive someplace else."

"Tahiti is a small island. I assure you that it is raining everywhere." He glanced at her again. "And I assure you that most of the guests here find no complaints with staying indoors." His eyes dropped briefly to the mattress.

Blushing, Kagome stood up. "I'm going to the bar," she said, her words rushed.

"Very well." Sesshoumaru returned to his work, reading over the emails his subordinates had sent to him.

His bride slipped on sandals, picked up an umbrella and left the bungalow marked with the number eight. The thatched roof eaves dripped water onto her hair as she shook out the umbrella and opened it. She stood for a moment, once she was protected from the warm rain, watching a few of the hotel staff running back and forth over the suspended walkways with trays, either laden with food or picked clean. No other couple would be bothering her in the bar then.

As she walked past the other huts, she wondered if Sesshoumaru was burying himself in his work from home for just that reason. _She_ couldn't hear anything from the little rooms, but his demons senses probably couldn't help but pick up on _everything_. "Ew," she murmured, looking away from the bungalows and towards the large building that was her destination.

Perhaps she wasn't being fair - the thought crossed her mind, unbidden and unwelcome. Kagome frowned. She had planned to marry Sesshoumaru for ages, ever since he had announced his intentions in her hospital room, where she had recovered from the last battle against Naraku. He had found her acceptable, and she had found him familiar. It was hardly a match made in heaven, but after her loss of Inuyasha (and his loss of Rin, which he had never spoken of after that first time), it was the best they could hope for. That's what he said, anyway, and she had believed him. Sensing the love - or at least the lust - that surrounded every hut but her own number eight, she was beginning to have misgivings.

The restaurant in the open-air, main building was closed and would be for another couple hours, but the bar was open around the clock. "Could I make a telephone call?" she asked the bartender, putting on a false smile. "And I'll have a scotch and soda."

The bartender raised an eyebrow as he pointed her towards the phone at the end of the bar. She told the operator her room number so that it could be charged to Sesshoumaru's limitless credit card and punched in a familiar number. "Hello?"

"Shippo," she greeted. "I'm glad you're home."

"My studio is in my home," he replied. Shippo had risen to become a prominent artist - so much so that Sesshoumaru actually had purchased some of his work - and Kagome had reconnected with her old friend as soon as she found out he had lived to modern times. "What's up, Kagome? Aren't you supposed to be on your honeymoon for another few days?"

"Almost a week," the girl replied. "It's raining."

"Yeah?" His voice sounded distant - she was on speakerphone. He was probably mixing paints. "I'm sure you can come up with _something_ to do that doesn't involve leaving your room."

"Shippo!" she cried, earning another odd look from the bartender as he set her drink in front of her. She lowered her voice, not certain if he could understand anything more than drink orders in Japanese. "Shippo, don't be crude. Why is that the only thing on anyone's mind?"

She could practically hear the shrug in his voice. Shippo had grown to be just as sweet and animated as he had been in his youth, but he turned serious when they even touched on the subject of Sesshoumaru. She suspected he had had a difficult time in the years after she disappeared, but he had never admitted it. "I'm just saying that you're married to him now. What're you waiting for? Isn't he treating you well?"

"He's treating me like the same old Kagome."

"He's trying to kill you for Tetsusaiga?" The amusement was threadbare.

She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her drink. The ice tumbled in the glass. "Like the same old, but new, Kagome."

"Hm. Are you drinking?"

"Yes?"

He sighed heavily. "Don't be one of _those_ wives, Kagome."

"I don't know what you mean," she muttered.

"You know exactly what I mean," he replied quickly. "One of those wives like the ones I sell half of my work to. They have their husband's fortune and liquor cabinet, but don't do anything healthy with either one."

Kagome twisted the phone cord. "I'm not an alcoholic, Shippo."

"I know you aren't. If you were, I'd get you help and then take on Sesshoumaru myself," he answered. "I wasn't talking about that. All those wives just let their lives pass by like that though. They don't change anything and fool themselves into thinking they're happy. I don't want you to be like that. Even if Sesshoumaru doesn't give you the time of day, you need to do something. Don't wait on him."

"I'm guessing you have a few things in mind?"

"I might," Shippo said. "Listen, I need to go. I have this buyer coming here in about fifteen minutes. One of those types that wants to pretend artists aren't grungy and covered in paint half the time. I need to clean up a bit."

"Sure. Sorry to have interrupted," she said.

"You can always call, Kagome," he replied. This time, she could hear the smile.

Kagome thanked Shippo and said goodbye. As she put the phone back into the cradle, a cell phone was placed at her elbow. "It works here. You could have asked."

She looked up at her husband. "I didn't think you had a cell phone with you. Not one that worked, at least."

"My company makes some of the most advanced communications technology in the world," he replied. "Everything of mine works everywhere. You can use this for the remainder of the trip. I will get you your own when we return. Unless you would prefer I have one sent here for you immediately?"

She smiled. "No, yours is fine. Thank you."

Sesshoumaru nodded and then glanced outside. "It will be raining for awhile longer, but it will clear up tomorrow." He lifted the folders that were in his grasp. "Until then, would you care to join me?"

"Sure." She slid off her barstool, grabbed her drink and followed him to a table. "Is this work? For me? You shouldn't have."

He ignored her teasing. "It is _my_ work."

"And I'm supposed to help? I didn't even go to university."

"Something we can remedy, if you wish," he said, looking up at his wife. "Money is not an issue."

"Grades are. I barely graduated high school."

"Money buys more than tuition and books. They might need a new building." He shrugged a shoulder, as if it was nothing to spend so much just to ensure her entrance into university. Of course, for him, it really wasn't.

Kagome shook her head. "That's sweet, if a little under-handed," she said. "No, I don't think I'd do very well, considering my record in high school."

"Extenuating circumstances existed," Sesshoumaru said. "I will get you tutors, if you wish, so that you are prepared. Then you can apply and be admitted upon your own merits, if you insist upon that path."

A shy smile graced her face. "Perhaps." She finally took her seat - not across the table, but beside him. "Did you ever go to university?"

"No, I didn't feel it was necessary. I have been around since the advent of the stock market. What is the need to go to classes that will only tell me what I already learned through personal experience?"

"Right. You lived through the Great Depression."

He nodded. "In Boston."

Kagome looked at him. "I didn't know you lived in America."

"I have lived many places," Sesshoumaru replied, leaning back in his chair.

"I barely know anything about your life between Naraku's death and when you came into my hospital room just what, eight months ago?" She bit her lip. "What have we been talking about since then?"

A hint of amusement passed over his expression. "Mostly, the wedding and the arrangements for our marriage."

"Right." Her cheeks had colored. "I guess that makes sense. We have the rest of our lives to get to know each other. That's what my mother said. I just didn't realize why she was saying it."

"I was under the impression that your family approved of this marriage," he said.

"They do." She paused and frowned. "They understand why... why I need you. Why you're the only one that can really understand who I am. You were right about that."

Sesshoumaru bowed his head an inch. "Perhaps I was too..."

"Tell me something," she interrupted. "Something about you life during all that time I didn't know you. Something funny."

"Funny?" He looked lost for a moment.

Kagome gave a firm nod. "Hilarious preferred." She watched his brow crease in thought. "I'll accept vaguely amusing. And before you think of it, you should know that I don't find death or dismemberment particularly funny. Mostly it's just gross."

"You have severely limited my options," he replied, but he surprised her with a story that met all of her childish demands. And then, he told her another and another, adjusting details as he saw fit as he learned what she did find 'particularly funny'. None of the stories involved humiliation at his expense, and Kagome promised him that someday he would come clean on that account. But soon enough, she was telling tales of her own youth and the tricks she and her brother had played on one another and their grandfather. The folder of his business ventures lay untouched between them.

The dinner hour came and went. They cleaned their plates, but didn't pay attention to what they ate. Sesshoumaru rarely did more than smirk, but Kagome laughed often. The few hungry couples that had forced themselves to make an appearance in the restaurant were quiet in comparison to the taiyoukai and his bride.

By the time the waiter asked if they wanted dessert, Kagome's face felt as if it would fall to pieces from smiling too much. "It's dark," Kagome observed in surprise, as the idea of dessert was dismissed.

"It has been for some time," Sesshoumaru replied. "Would you like another drink?"

She looked down at her melted drink, the same one that she had ordered before calling Shippo. "No, that's alright. I'm good. I'm kind of tired, actually."

Sesshoumaru signed their room number to the check, and they made their way to the edge of the restaurant, where the rain still dripped down from the thatched eaves. Kagome opened her umbrella and held it out to her husband. She was clutching the forgotten folder to her chest. "It's not coming down so hard anymore."

He let his own umbrella hang from his grasp, unopened, as he took hers and held it over their heads. "You'll never know it rained by midday tomorrow."

Kagome stepped out onto the walk with him, angling her body so the folder did not get wet. "I don't know," she said with a quiet smile. "A little rain isn't so bad, now that I think of it. It does make things grow after all."

She looked up at him, and he opened his mouth to reply when his phone rang. It rang again, and Kagome smiled. "Answer it. They might have gone bankrupt without you or something," she said, taking the umbrella hanging off his arm and opening it. "I'm going to go on ahead."

He watched her walk away with careful steps on the slick walkway and answered the phone on its fifth ring. "This better be important," he growled.

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	3. Only

Prompt: Row, Row, Row Your Boat  
Genre: Romance, Drama  
AU/CU: Canon, as long as you ignore the last bits of the manga :)  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Mention of character death, fluff later on, angst  
Word Count: 3134

Only

She had sat down at her desk moments before Sophie knocked. "Good morning, Mrs. Taisho."

"Morning, Sophie." Kagome waited for her assistant to sit down. "What do we have today?"

"You have a few calls to return, and then your English tutor is coming at eleven. Around two, Mrs. Ito is coming by to speak with you about a possible donation to the National Museum," Sophie said, her Parisian accent flowing into her flawless Japanese. "At four, you have an appointment with Kinjo-san for the dress for the charity gala next month. Tonight is the chef's night off, so you're having dinner with Mr. Taisho. I've made reservations at Le Pergolese at seven. Between all that, we need to take a few minutes to go through those invitations."

"Oh, no. I forgot to ask Sesshoumaru about them," Kagome sighed. She looked at the slender, auburn-haired woman across from her. "Should I call him at the office?"

Sophie was well-trained - her brow barely creased at the ludicrous suggestion. "Mr. Taisho isn't very appreciative of being interrupted at work, Mrs. Taisho." She waved the hand that held her pen. "Don't worry. It can wait until tomorrow," she added, although they both knew that it really couldn't.

"No. We'll go through them. If he can't go, I'll ask Shippo to come with me."

Her assistant blinked, her pen poised over the leather-bound notebook that was her constant companion. "Mr. Taisho isn't very appreciative of the women he sees - and I would imagine, his wife is included in that - going out into public with young, unmarried men," she murmured. "He left that actress for going to her premiere with her male co-star."

Kagome fell back in her chair. "Fine. I'll take my mother. Or I'll go alone."

Sophie gave a small nod. "Yes, Mrs. Taisho."

"Anything else going on today?"

"I'm sure I can fit something else in, if you don't think that's enough," said Sophie, a smile appearing on her lips.

"Oh, I think that's quite enough," Kagome replied. She ran a hand over her hair, pulled back into a messy ponytail. "Who was it that's coming after lunch?"

"Mrs. Ito." Sophie put her notebook and pen aside and walked around the desk, taking Kagome's thick mane in hand. "You met her at that party a few weeks ago for Samsung's newest little electronic thing. She's the one that's painfully thin?"

"Oh, yeah. She was kind of a snob."

Sophie nodded. "She's married to an investment banker. Mr. Taisho is one of the few men that has more money than her husband. She treats anyone with less money with less respect. I'm afraid she won't consider you as the one with the money."

"And she's the one the museum is sending out to ask for donations?"

The young woman stepped back and made Kagome tilt her head up. She nodded in appreciation of her own work and sat back down. Kagome didn't bother asking for a mirror - Sophie had a magic touch when it came to making her look presentable. "Her husband has given a lot of money for the new gallery. I think they're hoping the museum will name it after them."

Kagome stood. "And what I'm wearing? Is it acceptable?" she asked, gesturing to her wispy, navy dress.

"Christian?" Sophie had the habit of referring to all French designers by their first names. Since she had been the one to help Kagome put a deep dent into Sesshoumaru's credit card to fill her wardrobe, Kagome constantly felt she was wearing the clothes of Sophie's personal confidantes. Kagome had never inquired specifically, but it was actually possible - Sophie was thin and tall enough to walk a runway. Her glossy, auburn hair and large, liquid eyes would be the sort of stunning beauty Kagome would want wearing her clothes, if she had been a designer. "Very classic. Even Mrs. Ito could not find fault."

"We'll see."

Her assistant smiled. "You have awhile until your tutor arrives." She got up and collected her things before handing over the sticky notes that had all of the calls Kagome needed to return personally scribbled out in Sophie's looping script. "If you finish early, feel free to call me back in. I'll help you review your verb conjugation."

"Thank you, Sophie. Don't know what I'd do without you."

Sophie gave her an understanding look. "You'll get the hang of it, Mrs. Taisho. At his office, he has three assistants, and we barely got everything done while I was there."

Kagome glanced at the small piles of work on her desk. "I can imagine."

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"So after she was finished with the thinly veiled insults of my upbringing, my family's finances, how overwhelmed I must feel and how the staff is working against me, she decided to turn to her own virtues," Kagome said, leaning against the door of the backseat. "You know, money, money, her powerful husband, money."

Sophie shook her head as she tapped on her Blackberry. "Mrs. Ito is not the most proper of women. I'm afraid she'll be jealous of you for the rest of her life," she said. "Her husband is roughly the color of an orange and has only a few more hairs."

Kagome laughed aloud. "You're kidding!" she said. "Well, that explains a lot."

"Did you leave your phone at the house?" asked her assistant suddenly.

"What? Oh, I suppose I did. Why?"

Sophie raised an eyebrow at her message. "It's from one of Mr. Taisho's assistants. She's been trying to call you."

"That's never good. What does it say?" Kagome asked, leaning over. "Oh."

"He'll try to make it by eight," murmured Sophie.

"Fabulous," said the young wife. "Well, I don't want to eat alone, but we're almost there already. Will you have dinner with me instead?"

Sophie nodded. "Of course, Mrs. Taisho. Janette would be so pleased to finally meet you, if you wanted."

"I'd love to!" Kagome replied. "I have to, really. You two amaze me, you know. You're at my house from morning until night, and Janette works every evening until late. I can't imagine how the two of you manage to make everything work."

"It was a choice for both of us," Sophie said with a shrug. "When she came home with the news that she had received the opportunity to work in Tokyo in one of the best French restaurants as head chef, I couldn't tell her not to go. It would have broken her heart, but it would have broken mine to stay behind. It was strange at first, but after I learned Japanese, it became so much easier."

"You sacrificed a lot for her."

"No more than anyone else sacrifices for the people they love," answered Sophie. "It was difficult for her, too, when I decided to put aside photography and get a normal job. All of a sudden, I wasn't there every time she came home from the restaurant."

Kagome looked at her assistant and the way her cheeks flushed lightly as she spoke of Janette. "And now?" she asked, although she could guess the answer already.

"Now, we're happy. Busy, but happy." She smiled. "It's like swimming upstream sometimes, but eventually, it all goes the right way again."

The car stopped, and the chauffeur opened the door in front of the glass doors of Le Pergolese. Inside, the restaurant was all smooth lines and mahogany finishes with a bar that glittered with martini glasses and champagne flutes. "Sophie!" cried the host, opening his arms to receive Kagome's assistant. He bowed to the shorter woman. "And Mrs. Taisho! It is a pleasure to meet you at last. My name is Julien."

Kagome blushed and allowed the thin man to press a kiss to the back of her hand. She was still not accustomed to being recognized by strangers. Sesshoumaru had warned her, but her first appearance in the newspaper a week ago - aside from their engagement and wedding announcements - had been quite a shock. "Good evening," she replied.

"Mr. Taisho may not be able to come tonight, so I'll be joining Mrs. Taisho for dinner," Sophie said. "But we'll need a table for three, just in case."

Julien gave the woman a slightly exasperated smile. "Sophie, only for you and Mrs. Taisho, I will."

"You're wonderful, Julien," she said as he led them to a prime table in the middle of the room. "Thank you. Will you tell Janette we're here when you get the chance?"

"Of course," the host replied with a wink before he hustled away.

Kagome scanned the menu. "This must be a nice place. Everything's in French," she laughed.

"Japanese is on the next page," Sophie replied, grinning. "Speaking of languages, you never asked for help before your English lesson. You must be doing well, Mrs. Taisho."

"Or my tutor is very, very patient with a bad student," Kagome replied.

"I found English more difficult to learn than Japanese," said her assistant. "Of course, I was here already when I learned Japanese. I learned English in grade school and from tourists."

Kagome smiled broadly. "When I lived at the shrine, tourists sometimes came by, but my mother always answered their questions. She wasn't bad at it, but I never bothered to learn. I had too much to worry about back then, I guess."

"Once you settle into your life at the Taisho mansion, will you take on more tutors?"

"Perhaps," evaded the girl. "I'm taking English because so many of Sesshoumaru's clients don't speak Japanese. I don't want to be silent at all these parties we're invited to. But I'm not sure if I'll have the time to take any more lessons."

Sophie shrugged. "You'll get used to it. You'll pick the charities and projects that you feel most passionate about. That sort of thing."

"That's what Shippo says," Kagome said with a nod. "But I'm not sure..."

"Hon?"

Sophie turned and rose from her seat. "Janette!" she greeted the other woman with a kiss to the cheek. "It's so busy in here that I really didn't expect you to come out so soon."

The white-smocked woman shrugged. "If they can't handle themselves for a few seconds, I'm doing something wrong," she replied with a grin. She turned to Kagome. "You must be Mrs. Taisho. Hello! I've heard so much about you." She stretched out a hand, and Kagome took it.

"You, too," she said. "Your restaurant is lovely."

"Thank you." Janette cast a fond look around the busy room. "It's been a lot of heartache, but it's worth it."

"I know," Kagome murmured.

Janette pushed back a curl of her chestnut-colored hair. "It's more than just work with something like this," she affirmed.

For a moment, Kagome looked as if she would slip further into her reverie, but she shook herself free and smiled up at them. "When we were at the dressmaker's this afternoon, Sophie told me that you two are going to the chairty gala too."

Janette nodded. "One of the board members is a friend."

"Friend, nothing," Sophie said with a grin. "He is addicted to Janette's cooking. He and his wife are here more often than I am!"

"At least it's French cuisine," Janette said, smiling back. "His waistline appreciates it."

Kagome's assistant laughed. "A good thing for him that you don't do Italian instead."

Sophie was still standing next to the chef, and Kagome smiled at the way their hands drifted towards one another and intertwined. Janette was shorter and plainer than Sophie - most women were - but her freckles and bright, brown eyes spoke of a joy that only certain, lucky people constantly held within them. Kagome wondered if people looked at Sesshoumaru and his bride and saw the space between them, just as she could see the closeness between her assistant and the chef with just a glance.

"Well, I'm sorry about it, but I have to get back before my sous chef has a nervous breakdown. I just popped out to say hello. You can order whatever you want though," Janette was saying. "Burgers. Anything." Her nose scrunched up as she began to laugh, and Sophie squeezed her hand. "The best French burgers in town! Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?" Kagome asked, laughing as well.

"That you two will stay until this madness calms down a bit," Janette said, gesturing around the room. "Then I'll come for a proper visit."

"Sounds good," Sophie said with a nod.

"Great," added Kagome.

The chef smiled. "Then I'll make you both something special. Let's see if I can get you to come back often," she said.

The young woman looked at the pair in front of her. It felt so strange to be around pure happiness again - all at once, her heart felt both warm and heavy within her chest. "I promise I will," she said.

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She closed the door behind her and punched the security code into the number pad before dropping her purse and keys on the kitchen counter. The clock said it was eleven o'clock, and she wondered if her husband was home. The downside to having a chauffeur drop her off in front of the side door was that she never knew if Sesshoumaru's car was in the garage.

Slipping out of her shoes, she put the food Janette had insisted that she take into the fridge and wandered down the hall. The lights were on in the hallway, but not in his study or the library. It was unusual for Sesshoumaru to go to bed so early, but she found him in their dressing room, where he was loosening his tie. "You're home," Kagome said, stepping inside and putting her shoes on the shelf.

"As are you," he replied, turning to look at her. "I called, but I saw that you left your phone here."

"Sorry, I was at Janette's restaurant. We stayed after closing and all chatted. It was nice." She stood, shifting from foot to foot as he undid his shirt with his one real hand. "I brought you home some... well, something French. I forget what they called it. Janette said it was your favorite."

"Pochouse." He pronounced it just as Sophie and Janette had. "Fish in white wine."

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, that. It's in the fridge for you. Have you eaten?"

He shook his head. "There was a problem at the office."

"So I heard. Did you fix it?"

"I am not as incompetent as my employees," he replied. "It was simply time-consuming. And extremely irritating."

"I can imagine," she said. She hadn't moved to undress, but Sesshoumaru was now bare to his waist.

He paused with his hand on his belt buckle. "I am... glad you are making friends."

She smiled. "Me too," she said. Her eyes flickered to him and then to the door. "I'm going to go take off my jewelry."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and she went into the bedroom. The whole place smelled of flowers, and Kagome saw the sprays of lavender hydrangea and the yellow roses on her bedside table. When she turned back, Sesshoumaru was leaning against the door frame. "What're these for?" Kagome asked, walking around the bed to touch the blooms.

"I missed dinner. I thought this sort of thing was appropriate when someone cancels an appointment with their wife."

She bit her lip to keep from laughing - she didn't want him to think that she was laughing at him. "They're beautiful. Thank you, Sesshoumaru," she murmured. "Did you get them yourself?"

He nodded. "On my way home. I'm afraid they're not from a decent florist, but only a corner store."

Kagome did laugh a little this time. "That's alright." She looked back at him. "That's even better, really, to know that you picked them out yourself. Just... don't call it an 'appointment' with me, okay? I'm not a dentist."

The taiyoukai arched an eyebrow, but nodded in agreement. "I do apologize for missing dinner."

She shrugged. "It'll happen a lot, I'm sure. You're busy, and I knew that when I agreed to marry you."

Sesshoumaru stepped into the bedroom. "Kagome, our marriage is one of convenience, but I do not want it to be one where we live entirely separate lives." He paused, and the topic of children hung in the air for just a moment. "We know that you will never love me after Inuyasha, but I do hope that we come to enjoy one another's company, if only as friends."

"Friends?" She smiled. "I didn't think you really saw that as a possibility."

He hesitated for a moment. "I don't have many friends. Perhaps, I have none," he replied. "But I would like one in my wife, if that's possible."

Kagome's eyes widened and nodded. "It's possible. Definitely."

"I'm afraid that I'm not sure," he said, "how to go about it though."

"How to go about becoming friends?" she asked, her eyes sparkling. "I wouldn't worry about that. You're already doing fine, you know. I mean, even if you don't have friends now, you did once. Inuyasha trusted you enough to take care of me. I know Miroku and Sango had so much respect for you when we worked together to defeat Naraku. And Rin! She adored you!"

"Rin?" He blinked, looking lost for a moment. "Rin was..."

Kagome closed her eyes, her hand drifting to cover her mouth. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I didn't mean to say anything. I just talk too much sometimes."

He shook his head. "It's alright. Rin was simply..." He frowned and trailed off again.

"Unique," she whispered.

"Yes."

There was a long moment of silence as she twisted her hands together. "Right. Well," she began with an attempt at a smile, "should I warm up that pochouse for you?"

The smallest of smirks touched his lips at her mangling of the French word. "That would be fine."

She took a step towards him instead of heading towards the kitchen. "Um, Sesshoumaru," she said, making him pause once again, "thank you."

"For the flowers?"

Kagome gave him a true smile. "No. I mean, those too, but I was talking about the fact that you've sacrificed a lot for me. I do realize that, and I appreciate everything you've done. And I'm willing to make sacrifices for you. Just so you know." She shrugged. "We've sacrificed dreams - even dreams of the past - for each other."

His brows drew together for a moment. "Kagome, you shouldn't..."

"It's what _friends_ do for each other," she interrupted, drawing close to him and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "So, thank you."

She wandered away, her footsteps muffled in the hallway as she moved towards the kitchen, and she missed the frown her husband wore as he watched her go.

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A/N: Don't ask me what the last line means - you'll have to wait. ;)

The prompt of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" might seem completely illogical, but I've read that the rhyme was made up as a metaphor for the toil that people go through in their lives. The dream at the end is their eternal reward, of course. There's something to be looked forward to after all. :)


	4. Ruiner

Rosie is on fire - another update!

Prompt: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep  
Genre: Romance, Drama  
AU/CU: Canon, as long as you ignore the last bits of the manga :)  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Mention of character death, fluff later on, angst  
Word Count: 3349

On the award front, this story got 3rd place for Best AU/AR in the Inuyasha Fan Guild's 1st Quarter. :D Yay! Thank you!

Ruiner

She sat down in a corner of the restaurant with her glass of merlot and watched the other guests from under her drooping eyelids. She wasn't wearing a watch, but the stiff feeling in her joints told her that it was far past midnight. Time to go to bed, she thought, leaning her head back against the wall.

Sesshoumaru crossed into her vision - despite the fact that he hated these gatherings, he appeared quite comfortable moving from one cluster of people to another. He made sure that no one was forgotten, although he didn't seem to notice that she had retreated from the crowd. But that was fine - he had warned her that that might happen. "It is important that my employees believe that they contributed to the company's success," he had said before they left.

"Didn't they?" she had asked, but the question had gone unanswered as they had climbed into the limousine.

Kagome set her half-full glass on the table and tucked her feet underneath her chair as she watched her husband. It had been three months since they'd married - just over a year since they had been reunited in the modern era. She imagined that, in time, she would be able to read the subtle emotions flickering on his face. At the moment, however, she had only come the point where she saw that his expression was not simply a mask of indifference. It would take considerable hours, weeks, even years of study to learn his emotional intricacies. Was that gracious appreciation that he expressed to each person in the room? Or was it barely restrained annoyance that his company had succeeded in spite of his employees' work?

"You seem very much in love, Mrs. Taisho," said a voice at her shoulder.

Kagome turned to see a slim, young woman with a severe, sloped bob. "Do I?" she replied, and then cursed inwardly. The other woman raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I was actually feeling rather drowsy. But yes, I do love my husband, of course." That lie was becoming easier and easier to say every time, although she was not sure if it was because of an actual affection or simple practice. "Have we met?"

"Oh, no, I'm afraid not. I'm Asuka Watanabe." She shook Kagome's hand and pulled up a chair. "I'm rather tired too. Do you mind if I sit?"

"Go ahead," Kagome replied. "Do you work for my husband's company?"

Miss Watanabe smiled. "No, I'm here with my date, who works in Mr. Taisho's accounting department," she said. "I'm a writer."

"And what do you write?" She was still sleepy, but the conversation was rousing her a bit. She tried to concentrate.

"For fashion magazines mostly," the other woman replied. "I have to admit that I was happy to hear that you would be here tonight. I've seen your picture in the society pages so many times, and you always look so beautiful."

"Oh." Kagome colored. "Thank you."

The writer edged closer. "Actually, I was wondering if perhaps we could do an interview some time. It's impressive, really. I know that your family is not as well off as Mr. Taisho's - well, no one's is - and suddenly, you were vaulted into the position of the wife of one of the richest men in Japan. Yet, you've made the transition wonderfully, including your wardrobe. I would love to hear more about it."

Kagome bit her lip, smudging the expensive lipstick she wore. "Well, I don't know if I can take any of the credit. My friend, Sophie, picked out most of my clothing. You might want to speak with her. She has flawless taste."

"Sophie Fournier?" asked Miss Watanabe. "The one involved in the Kenji Yonai deal?"

Kagome frowned. "I'm not familiar with anyone named Kenji Yonai," she murmured.

"Oh." The other woman paused and cast a sharp glance around the room. "Mrs. Taisho, I don't mean to alarm you, but Kenji Yonai owned a technology company a couple years ago that was in financial trouble. Many companies wished to buy it, but your husband was successful in his bid."

"What's so alarming about that? Those things happen all the time in business," Kagome replied.

"It was in the newspapers for weeks."

The miko blinked. She had been in the Feudal Era, fighting Naraku and the Shikon Jewel on an almost daily basis two years ago. "I suppose I missed it. I was young and not interested in those things," she said slowly.

Miss Watanabe gave her a look that could only be interpreted as pity. "Mr. Taisho promised Mr. Yonai that he would make Mr. Yonai's company a subsidiary of his own company. All of the employees were to be kept, and all contracts honored. Mr. Yonai was going to be on the board of directors of Mr. Taisho's company." She paused and frowned. "A few days before the papers were signed, your husband bought out Mr. Yonai's company in a hostile take-over. He went back on all of his promises. Kenji Yonai died of a heart attack just a few days later, and his company was destroyed. Your husband fired everyone and took the assets he required. It tripled his stock price. It probably paid for that fine wedding you had and your beautiful clothing."

Kagome lowered her eyes to the green, natural silk dress that she wore. "I would imagine that he had his reasons," she said. "And, unless I'm mistaken, that's not illegal, is it? What he did?"

"No, it's not," admitted Miss Watanabe. Her eyes had hardened. "But it was unethical. And it was not the only time he dealt in such tactics, although it was the only time someone died because of it, that I know of."

"He didn't kill that man," snapped Kagome, standing up. "He's my _husband_. What do you think you're accomplishing here?"

"You obviously don't know what kind of man you've married," said the writer, rising to her feet as well. She stood a few inches taller than Kagome in her heels. "I only wanted to warn you. You should leave him before he drags you down too!"

"I know much more than you about what kind of man Sesshoumaru is," breathed the miko.

"I haven't even started," said Miss Watanabe.

Sesshoumaru materialized behind the writer with two large men at his side. "You will not have that opportunity," he said. "You will stop speaking to my wife _immediately_ and leave."

The writer shrunk away from him, although she tried to keep the determined look in her eyes. "Everyone should know what you do in your work, Mr. Taisho."

"The only one here that is ignorant of what I do is you," he growled. He beckoned to his two companions. "These men will escort you from the premises. I should warn you that if I ever see you speaking to my wife or any other member of my household again, I will take all legal measures available. As it is, do not look forward to achieving great success professionally."

"You can't do that. You can't threaten me!" she snapped, but her strength was ebbing away.

"You speak of ethics, and yet, you attempt to spread slander about me to my own wife and try to interfere in my marriage. I believe that is quite valuable for your future employers to know." He turned from her. "Leave."

Miss Watanabe was led away, flanked by the two security guards. "You're not going to have them hurt her in any way, are you?" Kagome asked, watching her go.

"Other than her professional demise? No," he said. "Unless she harmed you."

Kagome shook her head. "I'm fine. She just startled me. She said she wrote for _fashion_ magazines."

"You need to be more careful. Reporters have a way of slipping into functions such as this one, and something tells me that she was not aiming for a fashion magazine with an exposé about our marriage." His expression darkened as he spoke.

"She said she was here with one of your accountants."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed and turned to sweep across the room. "Well, that is something I will investigate personally."

"I'm fine. Really. Please, don't do anything like what you're thinking. It's not worth it, is it?" she murmured.

"Someone that allows a reporter into a private gathering such as this has no true loyalty to my company. It does not matter who that person is. If they breach my trust in this way, then they should go elsewhere for employment," he said.

Kagome bit her tongue, not expressing the incredulity she felt at hearing that he trusted anyone. "Sesshoumaru, I'd like to go home. I'm tired," she said instead.

"Of course," he said. "I will fetch our coats."

He strode off into the crowd, stopping only once to speak to one of his assistants. By the time he returned with her red, wool overcoat and his black trench coat, the other guests were wandering towards the coat check and setting down their drinks. "Party's over that quick, huh?" she asked as he helped her into her coat.

"It's late," he replied absently, guiding her towards the side door where the limousine waited for them.

"Sure." She nodded to the chauffeur and slid into the back seat, waiting until the door had closed again. "Do people do everything you say?"

He glanced at her. "In general, yes."

Kagome was silent for a few moments as the car pulled away from the curb. The partition was raised between them and the driver, but she pressed the button to close it once more for good measure before looking back at him. "Is it true what she said about Kenji Yonai? And was Sophie really involved somehow?"

Sesshoumaru's fingers drummed against his knee for a moment. "I am not certain what she said about the matter," he said, "but in general, what the newspapers said at the time was correct. Our companies had arranged a merger, but in the end, I bought his stock outright instead. It was a hostile take-over, and I removed all the assets from the company. As a result, his company folded without the means to make a profit on its own. His employees were terminated. He had a heart attack a short time afterwards, and he died. As for Sophie, she was my assistant at the time and was highly visible because of that. Nothing more."

"So you lied to him. He thought you were his friend."

"There are no friends in business," Sesshoumaru replied, leaning back against the leather seats. He closed his eyes and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "However, if I ever did have a friend in business, it was Kenji Yonai. He was ruthless, and I respected him for it, despite his humanity."

"But you still..."

"What the papers did not know," he interrupted, his eyes opening again to fix on her unhappy face, "was that Kenji Yonai had found out that his previous surgery had not corrected his heart defect. The agreement was not ready, and the lawyers were fighting over its terms. Other companies were poised to take over the company, but he preferred that I take his assets. He knew that I would put them to good use. He died even earlier than expected, but what happened was not unforeseeable, especially by Yonai."

Kagome's shoulders relaxed a fraction. "Those people still lost their jobs."

"I hired the useful ones to my company," he said. "Another fact that the newspapers glossed over too readily."

She let out a soft breath. "Well, I guess I'm pleased to hear that."

He scowled at her. "Kagome, just because that instance was not what it seemed to be does not mean I have not caused hardship in my business practices." The crease in between his eyebrows deepened. "I have put people out of jobs. I have left men penniless. I have ripped apart companies after buying them. I have even bought companies for no reason other than to rip them apart, just because they have threatened my own business in some way. In short, I conduct my business in the same way I conducted my kingdom when you knew me in the Feudal Era."

"Is that the honorable way of doing things?" she asked. "Back then, that was the most important thing to you - honor."

Sesshoumaru paused. "Was it?" he asked.

"You never ran from a battle," she began.

"Pride," he said.

"You helped us defeat Naraku."

"Vengeance."

"You never broke a promise."

"I never made one that didn't benefit me."

Kagome frowned. "You saved Inuyasha. You saved me."

"Necessity," he murmured. "At the time."

She sat quietly. "I don't believe you. I know that you did some things out of honor, not because you had to or wanted to, but because it was right. You took in Rin."

"She took me in," Sesshoumaru replied.

"So, what? You think that you're this black sheep of the business world? Laying waste wherever you go, just as you did in the Feudal Era?" she asked. She rubbed at her arms. "It's cold."

He turned up the heat and pulled her close to his side without a word, moving his artificial limb out of the way. "I did not say that. Most people in my position have done the same things I have in order to create successful enterprises. The reason I am a favorite target of the press is because I am extremely good at my job." He hesitated as she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. "If I thought of every individual affected by my decisions, nothing would get done. And there is good that comes of my power and wealth."

"Such as?" she asked.

"I now have a wife that can use that power and wealth to counteract the evil I do to attain it."

She shook her head. "You're not evil."

"I thought that was what you were talking about. Now, you're defending me?"

Kagome looked up at him. "I always was. I know that you're not running drugs or dealing with the Triads. I don't know enough about what you do to question its morality, I admit," she said. "But Naraku was evil. You _never_ were, although you were a bit particular about who you cared for. I doubt that that's changed. Despite what you say, I always saw you as honorable."

Sesshoumaru pulled her closer. "I appreciate your sentiments, but I disagree."

"Why?"

"If I had any honor," he began. He stopped and shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

The miko frowned. "Yes, it does. Look, I'm not under any delusions about who you are, Sesshoumaru. Remember that, for me, the Feudal Era was only a couple years ago. You weren't evil, but you weren't exactly sunshine and roses." Her expression softened. "She just startled me. She was nice, and then - bam! - I was under attack. I'm not used to that. I thought of that man dying, and I remembered how you would cut down anyone in your way with Tokijin."

"I still do that, but without the aid of a sword."

"I know. But to think that you'd be any different was just..."

"Wishful thinking?" he supplied.

"Foolish. On my part," she said. "The fear I felt was momentary. It was foolish for me not to realize that you applied the same level of intensity in your business too."

Sesshoumaru sighed. "And do you expect that to change? Now that I am married to you?"

"No," she murmured. "This isn't _Pretty Woman_. You don't see anything wrong with what you do."

"But you might," he said. "And that does matter to me, despite all appearances."

Kagome sat up, pulling away from him to look into his face. "You're putting words into my mouth. Look, I think that this marriage is hard enough to get used to without one of us changing what they are. I'm just learning the normal Sesshoumaru. Who would say that I'd even like the nicer, more compassionate Sesshoumaru?"

"So I am ruthless and dispassionate, but that is acceptable to you?" he asked.

She let out a soft laugh through her nose. "I guess so. This Sesshoumaru is the one that I married." She sobered. "I'm just saying that while that reporter's tactics rattled me for a minute, I wasn't surprised by what she actually said. And that's fine with me." She reached out and wove her fingers through his. "As long as it's fine with you."

The car turned up the drive and came to a stop at the kitchen door before he could formulate a reply. The staff was gone for the night - either to their own homes or to the servants' quarters - and they slipped off their shoes in the entryway and made their way to their bedroom in silence. Kagome yawned every few feet and hardly noticed that her husband was in the dressing room with her as she peeled off her cocktail dress and put on a cotton nightgown. He stood in silence as she went into the bathroom, only managing to loosen his tie before she came out again, ten minutes later.

"I'm exhausted," she said, picking up Sesshoumaru's arm and looking at his watch. "Two in the morning! You have work tomorrow." She pressed a kiss to his lips, which he returned. She tasted and smelled like mint and lavender - her toothpaste and her soap. It was the scent that hovered around her during the day too.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," he replied as she drifted towards bed. He waited until she had slipped between the linens and had closed her eyes before he moved to the back of the dressing room. Opening the closet filled with his older suits, Sesshoumaru pulled his quarry from the back. He set the smooth, black lacquered box on the ground and unlatched it.

Folding back the red silk, he ran his fingers over the three blades - one with its own scabbard and two without. Tokijin pulsed red at the appearance of its long-absent master, but Sesshoumaru flipped the silk back over it and looked at the other two. Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga - his father's legacy, separated between his two sons - sat quietly in their places.

Although Inuyasha had given him Tetsusaiga of his own free will, Sesshoumaru had never used it. He couldn't. It didn't matter though - even Inuyasha had known that the days of the sword were ending. It was a symbol only - of their father, of their rivalry and of Kagome. There were really four people tied up in the fate of Tetsusaiga after all. His father had it forged to protect his human mate, Kagome had been the one to give it to Inuyasha so that he could defend her, and Inuyasha had given it to him to seal Sesshoumaru's promise that he would take care of Kagome. It seemed very long ago, like someone else's life.

"Have I lost my honor?" he murmured to the two blades. "Did I ever have it? Who is right - Kagome or that reporter?"

He paused. "How is it that the reporter's words startled me more than they startled my wife?" His father's swords remained silent. Tokijin, ignored, finally stopped its pulsating, and Sesshoumaru sighed. "I will honor my promises. And you, Father," he said, closing the box and stowing it once again.

He changed out of his tuxedo and went into the bedroom, switching lights off as he walked. Kagome was asleep, facing his side of the bed, and he could see the outline of her features in the dark. "But I am sorry for it," he said.

Kagome's eyes opened, and she blinked slowly at him. "Hm? Didya say summin'?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head against the pillow. "No. Goodnight, Kagome."

She took in a deep breath and smiled. "Night," she murmured, slipping back to unconsciousness.

The taiyoukai rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling until dawn came.

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A/N: It actually took me ages to find the correct tone on this one - the first draft had Kagome in tears because of what the reporter said, but I realized how dumb that was. She really *does* know Sesshoumaru better than anyone - she probably wouldn't be surprised to hear that he *literally* stabbed someone through the heart at a board meeting. :P

And yes, I do love angsty Sesshoumaru. I know I've teased you at least twice about that. I promise it will be revealed in the next chapter... unless I change my mind. :D


	5. A Warm Place

A/N: Hey, all! If you've been reading "Beside You in Time", you'll notice in its latest chapter's A/N, I mentioned why I've been gone so long - namely, the bar exam. But look, I'm back and determined to finish this sucker! :) Happy day.

Another note before we begin though - if you're going to ask me to email you when I update, that's fine. I'll be more than happy to do so (although there is an author alert thingy for that, lol). But if you're *not* a member of a site I post to and *can't* get updates emailed automatically, know that FFN in particular hates it when you post any web address - including email addresses! - that you try to post to me in reviews. So this is what I see - "Could you email me when you update? My email is ." And then, I sigh, because there's no way to ever get in touch with you and ask what your email *really* is. If you've requested that I send you reminders of updates and you haven't received any reply, this is probably why. So... please put spaces in it. OR go to my author page and send me an email directly. Thanks! :)

Prompt: Hey Diddle, Diddle  
Genre: Romance, Drama  
AU/CU: Canon, as long as you ignore the last bits of the manga :)  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Mention of character death, fluff later on, angst  
Word Count: 2875

**A Warm Place**

"So, does it meet with your approval?" he asked, pausing at the mouth of the trail.

She looked back at the Swiss-style mountain home surrounded by a ring of blue-needled pine trees and smiled. "It's gorgeous. My very own ski chalet. You really know your way into a girl's heart," she said, nudging him with her elbow. "Not exactly the 'cabin' you described it as, but I suppose I'll suffer through having yet another mansion."

"I can wait until the sarcasm ends," Sesshoumaru said, folding his arms and rocking back on his heels.

Kagome laughed and leaned up to kiss his jaw, which was as far as she could reach without his help. "I wasn't being totally sarcastic. I mean, look at it! It's wonderful. The perfect place to run away to for a bit," she said, taking his arm. "I'm happy we're doing this. We needed a break from the city."

He nodded and turned back to the trail. She kept close to his side on the narrow path, and their hands brushed together with each step. Golden leaves drifted down from the trees around them as browner ones crunched under their feet. "You can explore it further after our walk."

She stretched her arms up towards the sky, bending back a bit as she followed him. "Well, I definitely need to stretch my legs after that trip, but it was a pretty exhausting drive. Let's not turn this into too much of a hike. Not today, at least." Her stomach growled softly, and she laughed. "Looks like I might want something to eat, too."

He almost smiled. "I will cook dinner when we return, and you have your choice of six bedrooms to rest in as I do so."

"I think we only need the one, but I'm quite willing to look at all of them," she said lightly, grinning up at him. She pulled back almost immediately. "What? Did I say something?"

"I don't believe so," he replied.

"Liar," she murmured, pointing at his face. "You did that slow blink thing. You only do that when you're surprised. I'm getting quite good at reading your non-emotions, Sesshoumaru. What's up?"

The dog demon glanced down at her. "I simply thought that you would be taking advantage of our solitude. There are no servants to whisper behind closed doors here. The housekeeper will only come after we've left. You can sleep in a separate room, if you wish."

"Oh." She frowned, thinking of the one night they had spent in separate beds since they had been married - their wedding night. It had been strange to share a bed with the demon after that extremely brief period of adjustment, but after she had lived with him for more than three months, it was now a comfort that she didn't want to do without. Even when she fell asleep before he came to bed and woke up alone, it settled her heart to know that he had been there in between. "When you first suggested we come up here, I thought that it was to, well, _not_ to sleep in separate beds."

He took in a soft, quick breath, and his steps slowed. "I have not required anything of you, Kagome."

"I know," she said, her cheeks turning pink. "I thought that was the point though. You wanted an heir. I didn't want to be alone. And I thought that... Well, you've been more than patient, and I was planning to. This weekend. I thought that was what you wanted, but if you're not happy with that..."

He had gone completely still. "I am _extremely_ pleased with that," he murmured.

"Then," she began again with a deep breath, "is there a reason you wanted to change the sleeping arrangements? Or were you just trying to be a gentleman?"

Sesshoumaru cocked his head, clearly tempted to ask about the 'gentleman' part of the question - a label that had probably never been applied to him, Kagome mused. Instead, he asked, "Do you remember the reporter?"

Her brow arched. "That Watanabe woman? Yes, of course. It was only three weeks ago, but I thought we covered all that. I understand who you are, Sesshoumaru." She tilted her head to look up into his face. "You have been a bit distant since then, though. I thought it was work-related."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "It has been a trying few weeks," he admitted, "but it was not solely the pressures of my office."

"Why are you wasting any more energy on that reporter?" she asked with a sigh.

The dog demon shook his head slowly. "I am not. However, her mere presence should have told you more about the world in which you have unwittingly entered. It has made me realize that perhaps this level of scrutiny is not what you wanted in life," he said. He plowed ahead before she could speak. "In fact, I have begun to grow concerned about your general well-being and happiness with our arrangement. I wonder if it should even continue."

"O-oh. I see." She pulled her coat closer to her throat. "You mean, you're wondering if we should stay married," she murmured.

"That was the idea," he replied.

"And are you forcing me to leave?" Kagome asked softly.

"No," Sesshoumaru said, "but it would be my suggestion. I will take care of you, of course. You and your family will have everything that..."

She held up a hand, bringing his words to a halt. "Explain this idiotic idea before you start trying to buy me off, if you please," she said, her voice suddenly sharper, despite the tears that were beginning to gather in the corners of her brown eyes.

He paused and then, nodded his acquiescence. "Some time ago, you spoke of the sacrifices one makes in marriage," he began. "I have sought to limit the number of sacrifices you have had to make, and yet, I am beginning to believe that I will never erase my own doubts that I have cut off avenues of your possible future. When you married me, a demon that far exceeds you in both age and lifespan, you made sacrifices that you cannot even realize."

"But everyone does that when they get married," Kagome replied. "You did the same for me."

"My life is long, and yours is so very short," he murmured. "It is not the same."

"So, you have the time to fix this mistake, but I don't. Is that how you see it?" she asked.

He answered slowly, choosing his words with care. "I made no mistake in marrying you, Kagome. Whether the same is true for you marrying me is my main concern. There are men - human men - that could give you the life you seek. You could find someone that you love. Someone like my brother or someone entirely new. Someone that does not hold you to the past but looks to your future. In short, I have come to realize that I was wrong to imply that you would never fall in love again. I manipulated you for my own purposes, and I seek to remedy it."

She took his arm, pulling it towards her. "But you weren't wrong at all. I could never have a normal life, Sesshoumaru. I'm not a normal, human girl anymore. Who I love can't be a normal, human boy either."

"Even for a mortal, a year and some months is a short time to mourn a loss like yours. You are still very young and able to recover fully," he replied. He straightened his shoulders and looked at her. "As I started to say before, I will, naturally, make certain that you and your family are provided for, for the remainder of your life."

She had to rein in the urge to sob for a moment. "A parting gift?"

He nodded once.

"And it would be a real parting, wouldn't it? I wouldn't see you again," she murmured.

"Not unless my personal appearance was required."

"I can imagine what that means," Kagome said. "You'd come to see me if the world was ending."

"Certainly. If the world was ending," he replied.

She studied his stiff posture for a moment. "Have you considered that I might actually like living with you? Being married to you?" she asked. He didn't answer, and she continued. "If you think it was such a mistake to manipulate me the first time, why are you forcing my hand again?"

He shook his head. "It is not manipulation to give you the choice you should have had in the first place," he replied. "I am attempting to restore the honor that you spoke of. The honor that I feel that I have lost."

"I don't understand how you could think that you've lost your honor or what it has to do with _us_ and our marriage," she said.

"I have dishonored my promise to my brother to give you a full and happy life. I have dishonored my father's lessons by serving my own interests and not protecting the human woman entrusted to me." He took a breath and looked at her. "I have made mistakes in the past that I am now repeating, despite my vows never to do so."

She frowned. "This isn't the sixteenth century anymore, Sesshoumaru. No one _entrusted_ me to you. Not your father, not my family and not even Inuyasha. I married you by choice, and I don't believe in giving up on a promise just because it might be a bit difficult."

"I am trying to give you..."

"Yeah, I get it," she interrupted. "You're trying to spare me the pain of not living the typical, boring life with a human man that could never possibly understand what I've gone through in my life. Someone who would probably have me locked up if I ever even started talking about the Jewel and Naraku or even _you_ with any seriousness. I could have married Hojo if I wanted that."

"The pale, simpering creature that hovered around you at our wedding?" asked Sesshoumaru, lifting his lip in disgust.

"Yes, him, unless there were other boys that you terrified with a simple glare," she replied coolly. "I know it's a shock, but I'd rather not marry a man like that. I never wanted a man like that, even before I knew you or your brother."

"I am sure there must be human males who actually possess spines," muttered the taiyoukai.

Her small smile was knowing and dangerous, although the tears had started to fall. "Not after you're done with them. But even if there were, would you really stay out of my life and let me marry any man, without your express approval? If you divorced me, you'd have no right to go around beating up any man that came to my door. Or into my bed, for that matter."

He remained silent for a long time, his hands curled into fists. "If you were happy..."

"Oh, stop it," she cut him off. "I wouldn't be."

"The point I am trying to make is that you can't know that."

"Neither can you," she replied immediately. "What if I never find anyone? What if I do find someone and he turns out to be a horrible drunk or something? And what happens to your plan of having children?"

"You will _definitely_ not find any man to marry while married to me. This is supposed to give you that opportunity," replied Sesshoumaru. "As for any children I might have, I will worry about that."

Kagome took two paces back and tucked her hands into her pockets. The silence hung heavy for several minutes before she spoke. "I'm not Rin, you know," she said finally.

"I never implied any similarities," he replied with a deep frown.

"You talked about mistakes in your past," she said.

He hesitated too long. "Five hundred years have passed since the Feudal Era. I have had two mates since then. There are many more choices other than her."

"No. There's only Rin," Kagome said simply.

Sesshoumaru turned his golden eyes away from her. The forest around them was silent, save for the rattle of dried leaves in the wind. "She wasted her life with me," he said at last. "I do not want to destroy your life as well, Kagome. To do so would strip me of any chance I had to regain my honor."

Her expression softened instantly, and she took a step towards him. "What happened, Sesshoumaru?" she asked.

His eyes shifted back to her, and his face was blank with a wordless refusal that she understood - there were some things that she wasn't ready to share about Inuyasha either. Those were her memories, and until they filled her with the joy that she'd at the time, she couldn't bear the thought of tainting them with the tears that would inevitably fall. "Alright," she murmured. She could have guessed at the answer easily enough. "But I think - I _know_ - that you're wrong. Rin would never consider her life wasted with you."

She still didn't receive an answer, and with a shrug, she looked back up at the house. They hadn't made it very far from the dark peaks of the chalet. "I don't want to leave," she said, "but I will, if you're unhappy." She bit her lip. "Are you?"

"No," he breathed, "but I will not put my own, selfish desires above how you want to spend your life."

"That's very considerate of you. And, may I say honorable, too?" She returned the surprised arch of his brow with a sincere smile. "You should know by now that my own, selfish desires about how I want to spend my life pretty much line up with yours." She reached up and brushed back the hair that usually covered his pointed ears, skimming her fingers down the length of his jaw.

He caught her hand in his. "This is not about love," he said, sounding almost apologetic.

She nodded seriously. "It never was," she agreed. "But it's not exactly just a business arrangement anymore, is it?"

"It never was that, either," the dog demon said.

Instead of answering, she cast her eyes about the forest floor. Finding what she needed, she stepped around him, off the path and onto the fallen tree that rested in its bed of drying moss.

He watched as she gained six extra inches with her skillful balance on the log. "What are you..."

Kagome threw her arms around his neck, cutting his question off with a quick, but powerful, kiss. She broke away with a laugh as his hands encircled her waist to steady her. "I'm glad we agree, Sesshoumaru," she said. She still had to look up at him, but she was very close, and her breath trailed over his exposed skin. "Can we agree that your idea was stupid, too?"

She could see the conflict in his eyes. "Only if..."

"I'm staying, because I'm happy with you," she interrupted him again. "Stop. Fighting."

Instead of narrowing his eyes at how she kept stepping on his words, she was rewarded with a nearly imperceptible smile. "Very well," he murmured. "It was a bad idea."

"_Stupid. _A _stupid_ idea," she corrected, drifting even closer to his lips. "I had much better ideas from the start." She punctuated the thought with another, longer kiss, pulling back and lifting an eyebrow to wait for a response.

"I was supposed to stop fighting," he murmured, and she realized that his one, real hand had crept underneath her coat to brush along the strip of bare skin between her jeans and where her cashmere sweater had risen above her waist. "I have stopped."

A strong burst of fluttering butterflies made their presence known in her stomach. She managed a coy smile. "Well, I say that we investigate those six bedrooms now," she said, her voice lower than usual. "Or, if we don't get that far, the couch. Or the kitchen wall. It might be a little cold out here, but..."

He cut her off this time, lowering his head to capture her mouth with his own. Her fingers ran up the back of his neck and into his silky hair as he brought his body closer to hers. Humming appreciatively, she moved her lips over the stripes on his cheeks and along the edges of his pointed ears. She could feel his heartbeat, normally so slow and steady, speed up as her hands tugged aside the lapels of his jacket and slid underneath his shirt's starched collar.

His hand skimmed up the curve of her arched spine, leaving goosebumps in its wake. He brushed the juncture of her neck and shoulder with his fangs, and she shivered, tipping even closer to him and peppering kisses along his jawline. He steadied her on the log again. "You'll fall," he breathed.

She leaned up to his ear and let him feel her smile against his skin. "Promise?"


	6. Where Is Everybody?

A/N: For some reason, this chapter keeps disappearing on people and doesn't seem to be sorting itself out, so I'm re-submitting it. Please TELL me if it does something weird again.

This story placed 3rd (tied) in the IYFG's second quarter for Best Serial! :D Thank you so much for the support!

Prompt: Peek-a-boo  
Genre: Romance, Drama  
AU/CU: Canon, as long as you ignore the last bits of the manga :)  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Mention of character death, fluff later on, angst  
Word Count: 3153

**Where Is Everybody?**

It was difficult to concentrate with the house so quiet. Usually, Kagome would be chattering with Sophie about the next day's plans by now - he could always hear them through the wall that their offices shared. In the distance, the chef was rattling about, making the last preparations for dinner, but it was different knowing his wife would not be popping into his room two minutes before it was ready to pull him out of his chair so that the food wouldn't get cold.

Instead of Kagome acting as a distraction for a few moments, her absence was throwing off his focus entirely. The clock at the bottom of his computer screen had just turned over to eight o'clock, but his eyes were still only skimming over the financial reports that he had picked up two hours ago. They were supposed to be presented tomorrow morning - he vaguely wondered how many of his board members would stare if he actually came to a meeting unprepared.

"Mr. Taisho?"

He looked up to see one of the maids in the doorway. "What is it?" he said, more sharply than intended.

She blinked at him, looking as if she wanted to turn tail and run. "Mr. Wakahisa is here to see Mrs. Taisho," she murmured.

"My wife is not here," he replied shortly, turning back to his reports.

"Well, if I can't see my best friend, I might as well see my _oldest_." Shippo appeared beside the maid and gave her a wink. "Thanks. You can go. He'll kick me out without your help."

The maid skittered away, and Shippo lounged in. He was wearing paint-stained chinos and a loose, untucked shirt - Sesshoumaru could smell paint-thinner and varnish on his clothes and knew that he hadn't showered since working in his studio. "I don't know when Kagome will be home," he muttered, wrinkling his nose slightly. "How can you stand that odor?"

Shippo flopped down into the mahogany chair that sat across the desk from the taiyoukai. "You get used to it," he said. "And she'll be home soon enough, because she invited me for dinner."

Sesshoumaru eyed his attire once again. "Did she?" he murmured.

"It was awhile ago. I almost forgot about it," the fox demon replied with a shrug. "Looks like I could have taken the time to clean up."

"It would have been appreciated."

Shippo smiled at the older demon. "Kagome won't mind."

Sesshoumaru grunted softly and looked back at his paperwork, but once again, found his concentration lacking. "Was there something specific that you wanted from my wife?" he asked, practically growling.

"No," replied Shippo smoothly. "Unlike some people, I am quite satisfied with Kagome's company without demanding more."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. "Watch your words. I can still break you in half, kit."

Shippo straightened in his chair. "And you'll find that I'm stronger than you remember, dog," he snapped back. They glared at one another for a moment, and then, Shippo rolled his green eyes up to the ceiling with a sigh, falling against the seat-back again. "But Kagome would be pissed at whomever lived, so I suppose we shouldn't."

The taiyoukai was tempted to point out that it was a very convenient excuse, but ultimately agreed, thinking about Kagome's likely reaction to such a battle. There were worse punishments than a subjugation spell. "Is there a reason you are in here, interrupting my work, instead of in the kitchen, bothering the chef?" he tried again, keeping his tone neutral.

"This is more fun?"

Impatience flared up within him once more. "It's hard to believe that you've matured at all in the last five centuries," Sesshoumaru muttered.

"And, after five centuries, it's hard to believe that stick is still up your..."

The dinner bell chimed, cutting off Shippo's words. They took another moment to stare menacingly at one another before Sesshoumaru stood up, buttoning his pinstripe suit jacket. "I suppose that if my wife invited you to an evening meal, I must uphold that invitation," he said. He paused by Shippo's chair. "But only if you can be civil."

"Of course, as long as I can hold you to the same promise," replied the fox, rising to his feet.

Kagome had long ago decreed that even the informal, Westernized dining room was far too cold and imposing for everyday meals. The small, unused sun room at the back of the house was quickly requisitioned, and someone had found a low, deeply scratched table in the attic with four, mostly matching cushions to sit upon. It felt more like home, she had said, folding her legs up underneath her as she relaxed. She never mentioned finding more suitable furniture, and Sesshoumaru became accustomed to eating in the room with her, rain or shine.

He sat in his usual seat, and Shippo took the place opposite with Kagome's setting in between them. They dished out their portions of the fish, rice and vegetables in silence. "So," began Shippo, grimacing at the effort of holding up his end of their deal, "where is Kagome tonight?"

"A board meeting, as usual," he replied, stabbing at his rice with a little more force than strictly necessary.

"I thought that was _your_ thing."

The taiyoukai frowned at him. "A charity board meeting," he clarified.

"Ah." He took a bite of his meal. "So she's on the board _and_ organizing their biggest fundraising event of the year. She really dove in head first after the previous organizer had to quit, didn't she? Explains why she's been so busy lately. The fundraiser is only a few weeks away, isn't it?"

Sesshoumaru nodded. "The seventh."

There was an awkward pause as they pushed their food around their plates. "Well, at least I know it wasn't you," the fox murmured at last.

"_What_ wasn't me?" Sesshoumaru asked, narrowing his eyes.

He shrugged. "When I saw her last, she looked exhausted and unhappy. I guess it was this charity thing, not you."

"No, it most decidedly was _not_," murmured the taiyoukai, wondering if that was the real reason the fox demon had shown up on his doorstep. Kagome usually warned him if there were to be any guests at dinner, but then again, he hadn't spoken to her all day. "It would be hard to make her unhappy, as I have barely seen her for the past several weeks."

Shippo's green eyes studied him. "Really?"

"We catch glimpses of one another." He cleared his throat and glared at his dinner companion. "It is expected, from time to time. We are both busy people, and our schedules conflict."

"That must be difficult," Shippo said with a surprising amount of compassion in his voice.

The dog demon scowled. "It is none of your concern."

"_You_ brought it up," replied the fox, "not me."

Sesshoumaru set his chopsticks to the side and reined in the urge to rub at his temples. "My wife is perfectly pleased with her life. Our marriage is doing well. Any frustrations she might have been feeling when you saw her were surely momentary. Now, will you tell me exactly why you are checking up on her? And, by association, on me?"

"An obligation, of sorts," Shippo replied enigmatically. He shrugged at Sesshoumaru's insistent stare. "You're not the _only_ one that spoke to Inuyasha in his last days, you know. You left before he died. I stayed until the end."

"Am I supposed to feel some sense of guilt for not waiting for my half-brother to waste away?" asked the taiyoukai. "He was old."

"He was heartbroken," Shippo corrected. "He didn't even care about the Tetsusaiga anymore. He just wanted to make sure Kagome was taken care of. It literally killed him to know that he couldn't make sure of it himself."

Sesshoumaru arched a brow. "I know. He charged me with that task."

"And he asked _me_ to make sure that you were actually living up to it," said Shippo.

He wasn't entirely surprised by the claim. "Why don't you ask Kagome about her happiness instead? You shouldn't expect a truthful answer from me if I haven't been fulfilling my promise."

"I intend to, but I thought it'd be fair to let you know that someone else is looking out for her."

"She doesn't appreciate it when others second-guess her choices in life," Sesshoumaru said. "Neither do I."

Shippo held up his hands. "She can make her own choices. I didn't make a big deal of it when she actually said she'd marry you, after all," he replied with a joyless grin. "I promise. No tricks from me."

"Hn. We will see about that." He picked up his chopsticks again. "Why such interest now, of all times?"

"Things are settling down," Shippo said without hesitation. "She's definitely trying to hold up _her_ end of the bargain to get you a kid."

Sesshoumaru's head snapped up, and he couldn't help the low growl that rumbled in his chest. "What would you know about that?"

Shippo didn't flinch. "Kagome doesn't kiss and tell. Like that's the sort of thing I'd _ever_ ask about," he said hotly. "You know how I know." His nose twitched.

The deep frown took several moments to fade. "Hn."

"Anyway, my point is," continued the fox, taking a large breath of air, "things might be clearer now. It all went rather _fast_ when she came back, didn't it? I mean, she shows up in the well house one day, bleeding and crying, and two weeks later, you're engaged. You told her how Inuyasha died. How Miroku and Sango died, too. And you followed it up with a marriage proposal."

The edge in his voice almost drew a smirk from the taiyoukai. "I gave her the chance to rethink her decisions," he said instead.

Shippo scowled. "Yeah, I'm sure you were really..."

"A few months ago, I voiced those same concerns to her. I offered her a graceful exit," interrupted the dog demon. "She refused. She is happy here. I have learned to accept that. So should you."

The fox's green eyes glittered as they studied Sesshoumaru. "You really asked? And she didn't want to leave?"

"She _vehemently_ protested," he corrected. He straightened slightly, remembering exactly how passionately she had made her choice known to him. "Your somewhat belated concern for my wife is noted, but you will stop interfering. If she ever changes her mind, I will naturally bow to her wishes. Otherwise, it is out of your hands and mine."

"I see. I guess it is, then," he said, his voice still laced with vestiges of skepticism.

"Yes," Sesshoumaru agreed, fully aware the fox would still ask Kagome to make certain.

Shippo was silent for a few minutes more before cracking a smile. "You know, Inuyasha once sent Kagome home to her own time because of you. He stole her jewel shard, so that she couldn't get back. It was right after you had that human arm, remember? And Kagome _shot_ you." He laughed. "The look of pure shock on your face was priceless."

"She broke my armor. She did not hit me," Sesshoumaru said. He paused for a second. "It was the second time that she surprised me in as many dealings as I had with her. She was the one that pulled Tetsusaiga from its place in my father's tomb."

A wistful look passed over the fox's face. "Yeah, she told me. That's when Inuyasha sent her to her time. She still managed to get back to us though. Not that it made it any safer for her. You were still around, after all," he said. "I think Inuyasha must have been worried sick half the time. Probably why he was so foul-tempered."

"My half-brother was always foul-tempered. And I rarely threatened her life directly," muttered the taiyoukai. "She simply _annoyed_ me."

"Because she got the upper hand on you twice in a row? Or because a human girl actually impressed you somewhat?" asked Shippo. He shrugged, raising his eyes to the ceiling as Sesshoumaru frowned. "Hey, I'm just pointing out the oddities of fate. You were extremely talented at killing people, and you couldn't manage to kill the one, young, human girl that was destined to become your wife."

"I also saved her life more than once," said Sesshoumaru, "which is not an oddity at all, but in fact, made it possible for me to marry her."

"Well, if you're going to get _technical_ about it," muttered Shippo melodramatically. "But you did save the life of the girl you claim annoyed you."

Sesshoumaru gave him a pointed look. "I saved your life, too. I _still_ find you annoying."

He laughed. "I'm kitsune. It's what we do." He leaned forward. "But, come on. She was more than an annoyance, wasn't she? I mean, she didn't transport from the Feudal Era to her time and magically become _not_ annoying. You must have had some respect for her when you made your promise to Inuyasha. She was on your radar at least," he pressed.

The dog demon considered it. "Yes, I suppose that would be true. She always had admirable bravery and loyalty, even if it did lead her to act foolishly at times," he conceded. "And she wore that ridiculous outfit."

Shippo grinned. "Whoa, Sesshoumaru! You're sounding like Miroku," he said. "I like it. You're a mere mortal like the rest of us."

Sesshoumaru sent him an exasperated glance. "You forget those times. She was practically nude by the standards then," he said. "It was more shocking than alluring."

The fox winked. "Well, I'm sure she has a spare tucked away somewhere."

"A spare what?" Kagome appeared in the open doorway, looking tired but immensely pleased to be home.

"Nothing," Sesshoumaru said quickly, ignoring Shippo's grin. He got to his feet and received a quick kiss on his cheek. "It is good to have you home at last."

"It was the meeting that just wouldn't end," she complained cheerfully, sitting down in her place. She reached across and squeezed Shippo's hand in greeting before she started dishing out food for herself. "I'm starving! You guys hardly ate a thing though."

They looked at their own plates, nearly untouched. "It was a riveting conversation," said Shippo.

Kagome's eyes widened, and she looked at Sesshoumaru. "Really?"

"Very revealing," Sesshoumaru replied, sitting down again.

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Kagome cocooned herself in the bed almost as soon as dinner was eaten and Shippo was gone. "I'll be so glad when this charity ball is over," she said, her voice muffled by the quilt covering her up to her eyes. "The caterer is being impossible, you know. The number of hors d'oeuvres he says he can make keeps going _down_ while the number of invitations is going _up_. He was doing this as a favor to the last organizer, and now that she's gone, he just doesn't want to do it all. He's already the most popular caterer in town. He doesn't need the rich and famous to like his cooking - they already do. But if this keeps up, the guests are going to have to eat their napkins. Hey, think you could do your cold stare act with him?"

"It is never an _act_," he said from the doorway of their dressing room. "And do you really want me to fight this minor battle for you?"

"No," she groaned, sinking lower. "I guess not. I have to save you for the really difficult stuff, like dealing with... with insurance salesmen or something," she finished lamely.

He almost smiled at the large, mournful, brown eyes looking at him over the edge of the covers. "You are free to use our name and all the power that goes with it, of course," he said.

"Maybe that'll work," she said with a sigh. "Next year, I'm asking Janette to cater."

He paused in pulling off his dress shirt. "You're doing this again?"

She straightened. "If no one else will, I suppose so," she replied. "It won't be as busy next time. It's only crazy this year because I stepped in so late."

He raised an eyebrow. "Those words seem familiar. The next business quarter is never supposed to be as hectic as the one that keeps me from our dinner dates."

"You almost always show up when you say you will," Kagome said. She lowered her eyes. "I should have called to tell you that I was going to be late. I'm sorry. I kept hoping that the meeting would end soon."

He disappeared into the dressing room for a moment to put away his clothing. When he returned, he was wearing only a pair of low-slung, cotton pajama bottoms. He never needed Kagome to tell him that this was how she preferred that he sleep - he could hear her heart speed up every night that he did. "I well understand the curse of an eternal meeting," he said, lifting the covers and sliding in next to her. She curled into his side instantly, pressing her cheek against his shoulder. "Next time, I would appreciate some notice about dinner guests, however."

"Oh, I know. I really do apologize. I thought I'd be home in plenty of time." She shifted in his grasp to look at him. "You seemed to get along pretty well this time though. What did you two talk about?"

"The only things that we have in common. The past. You," he replied.

She laughed as she settled back against him. "How annoying you found me?" she guessed.

"Hm. How things haven't turned out the way any of us planned," he amended.

"They haven't, have they?" she murmured, settling against him again. She began to trace soft, random patterns on his abdomen with her fingers. "But that was the old plan. We have a new plan."

He moved so that his cheek rested against the crown of her head. "Indeed," he said. He hesitated for a moment. "But even the new plan has had some unexpected developments."

Her fingers stopped moving. "Such as?"

It was good to hear the lack of trepidation in her voice - she was secure in her faith in him. "I did not expect to be so troubled when you were absent."

His wife's smile was broad, although he could only feel it against his chest. "You miss me what I'm gone?" she asked. She didn't wait for an answer. "I've missed you these last weeks, too. I _will_ be around more often soon enough."

"I believe you," he replied.

She kissed his collarbone. "You know what? I didn't expect how much I'd enjoy any of this either."

"This?"

She waved her arm expansively. "You know. This."

He knew she wasn't talking about their imported bed frame. "Ah, yes. _This_," he said, signaling his wordless agreement with a delicate brush of his thumb over her cheek. He soon pulled her even closer and ran his fingers through her hair until they both fell asleep.

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A/N: Last chapter was kinda fraught with tension, so I added that last scene to give more of an idea of how comfortable they're becoming in their relationship. Even if it did kinda spoil Kagome's absence for the "Peek-a-boo" theme. ;)


	7. Just Like You Imagined

Prompt: Pat-a-Cake  
Genre: Romance, Drama  
AU/CU: Canon, as long as you ignore the last bits of the manga  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Mention of character death, fluff later on, angst  
Word Count: 3891

**Just Like You Imagined**

"Thank you for breaking your rule about not arriving early to parties," Kagome said as the limousine rolled up to the curb and into the queue for the red carpet. She could see the glass-walled opera house and the white, leather couches where Tokyo's rich and famous would soon be lounging. The lobby was already glittering with crystal and silver as the waiters prepared for dinner. It looked just as she had planned, but appearances could be deceiving - there could be a million, tiny disasters going on inside that she had to take care of.

Sesshoumaru glanced at his watch and shrugged. "It's not a rule so much as a general guideline," he replied. "This is an exception to it. The charity gala's organizer should probably be there for the majority of it."

She flashed him a smile. "I'm kind of nervous, actually." She leaned over to look out the tinted window, biting her lip at the flashing cameras and wondering if she could ever learn to be as cool and calm about these things as her husband. "There are so many people watching this. So many important people that will be here. It could go very, very wrong."

"If it goes awry, the blame will be placed upon those who failed to follow your plan," Sesshoumaru said. "I saw your work. It was flawless. My company should hire you for its gatherings."

Kagome laughed. "I'm strictly non-profit, Sesshoumaru. And I could never work for you. You have a reputation for being a _difficult_ boss, to say the least."

He settled back against the seats, smirking. "I suppose that I am demanding of my employees," he agreed.

She shot him an amused glance. "I guess I should be thankful that you don't demand so much out of everyone in your life," she said.

"Perhaps they have simply satisfied all of my expectations," he answered with an uptick of his brow.

She hesitated just a moment. "You mean I have?" she asked, trying to school her features, just in case he was talking about something else.

"There are not many to whom I would say such a thing."

The car rolled forward to the end of the red carpet, and Sesshoumaru began to sit up in preparation for a smooth exit, but she stopped him, putting her warm hands over his. "Please, don't tell my family yet," she murmured. "I mean, not tonight. It's going to be too crazy tonight."

"Kagome," he said, wrapping his real hand around her waist to turn her more fully towards him. He held her tightly, his fingers grasping at the red silk she wore. He had never told her if he had liked the dress, but she had seen the slow sweep of his eyes before they left. The look he had now was more desperate than that, but it still had that appreciation. He didn't seem unhappy, at least. "What, exactly, can your family not hear tonight?" he asked, measuring his words carefully.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered. "Didn't you know?"

His lips parted, but he could only manage a small shake of his head.

"Oh." She bit her lip and silently berated herself for jumping to conclusions. Her original plan for the announcement had been a quiet dinner and whispers and candles - not twenty feet away from Tokyo's paparazzi on the most frenetic night of her social calendar. "I thought you could, you know, sense it or something. You just said that I had satisfied all of your expectations." She reached up and ran a finger along the length of his aristocratic nose. "I thought you would know before I did."

The dog demon breathed in deeply. "I was speaking of you and you alone, Kagome. I never could have kept silent about this," he murmured. He stopped and looked down at her, his face impassive to anyone but her. She could see the shock in his golden eyes and feel the slight tremble in his hand. "It is early?"

She nodded. "Very."

Cold air curled around them and under Kagome's thin dress, making her shiver, and Sesshoumaru looked up to see the chauffeur holding the door open for them. "We should go inside," he said, pulling her silk wrap out from where it had been crushed into the seats. He pulled it over her shoulders. "I will not tell anyone."

She smiled gamely at the photographers from the society columns and took his arm as soon as they were both out of the car. "But it is okay, right? I mean, it's a secret, but it's a good secret?" she murmured, leaning into him. "You look a little shell-shocked."

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "I am more than pleased. It simply feels different than I expected."

Kagome stifled a laugh behind her hand. "More terrifying?"

"I would never admit to it," he murmured, "but something like that." He drew her closer to his side, so that she could feel her smooth legs brushing against his tailored tuxedo. "And you? This is sooner than expected, and you have not said if it is alright with you."

The question - the obvious concern for her feelings - would have surprised her once, but not anymore. She had slowly learned to stop drawing attention to these signs of his regard - it made him uncomfortable, and they were far more frequent when she didn't say anything about it. "Definitely terrifying," she admitted, "but in a kind of wonderful way. It feels like..." She trailed off and frowned up at him, but he did not coax her to speak. He waited patiently, as he tended to do. "It feels like one of those clichés about this being bigger than just me, but in this case, it's true. Isn't it?"

He didn't look at her as they entered the glass-walled opera house. "There are more half-demons, one-fourth demons, _one-eighth_ demons than there are full-blooded youkai in these times. But I do not know of any that are born of such a heritage as mine. And yours," he added. "Any child of ours could be particularly important to youkai survival. It is what first brought me to you."

She nodded, letting out a long sigh. "I know," she replied with a small smile. "That's a large part of the 'terrifying'."

"I do not expect him to be the savior of my race," he said, reading the bent of her thoughts with startling accuracy.

"It could be a girl," she pointed out.

He shrugged. "The same goes for any daughter we might have. You must stop worrying about it."

"I'll try," she said, lowering her voice as she spotted guests that had also arrived early. They were clustered around the bar as the music was piped into the room through the sound system - a jazz band would arrive later, after dinner, and a shining white and gold drum set already stood onstage. Square, glass vases packed full of white hydrangea graced every tabletop, and she pulled her husband towards the one she knew held their names. "We should stop talking about it if we want to keep it quiet. The walls have ears around here."

"We will begin discussing the details later," he agreed, sliding his overcoat off of his shoulders.

"Like what? I think you should leave the baby room's decorations to me, Sesshoumaru," she teased. "No swords."

He raised an eyebrow. "An intriguing theme for a child's room, but I was speaking of the financial arrangements. Trust funds and wills."

"You know those things go right over my head," she said. Sesshoumaru had made it clear that his offer to send her to university was a standing one, but aside from the English lessons so that she could speak with his many American clients, Kagome felt that the world of business was always going to be a little beyond her.

"I will explain everything very clearly," the taiyoukai replied firmly. He lifted a hand to quiet her as she opened her mouth. "A secret, remember?" His eyes flickered to a point over her shoulder.

Sophie and Janette had arrived, both looking astonishing in complimentary shades of blue and green. Kagome waved at them from across the room. "Alright. We'll talk about all of it later," she acceded.

His hand came to rest on her shoulder. "It will be a good night," he murmured in her ear, "even if everything falls apart."

Kagome barely had time to grin up at him when Sophie and Janette joined them, and she didn't notice their awestruck expressions. "Mr. Taisho," gasped her auburn-haired assistant in lieu of a greeting, "you're _smiling_."

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She sat by the window, watching the snow fall and holding the phone to her ear. "No, Mama," she agreed with a smirk, "of course Sesshoumaru wouldn't get a car for Sota's birthday gift. And there's no _way_ Sota could convince him otherwise."

"You have a softer heart, Kagome," laughed her mother. "Don't let him convince you either. Grandpa and I have saved up enough to get him a nice, reliable, used car."

"Italian?"

"Of _course_ not," replied Mrs. Higurashi.

Kagome giggled. "Well, I guess he'll get over it once he realizes the Lamborghini was never an option for him. He might be kind of miserable to live with for a few weeks though."

"He should appreciate what he's getting," she replied, and Kagome could hear the motherly exasperation. "He's been very difficult since you left home."

"He's a teenager."

"I think he misses you more than he lets on," her mother said, "and he's dealing with it the only way a teen-aged boy knows how. You'll see how it is, eventually."

Kagome smiled softly as the older woman made at least the fifth reference to her pregnancy in the ten minute conversation so far. Sesshoumaru had been predictably adept at keeping his mouth shut about the baby at the charity benefit several weeks ago, but she had quickly found out how difficult it was to keep silent. Two days after she had shed the red silk dress - the one she knew she would _never_ fit into again - they had gone to the shrine and announced the news to her family. Mrs. Higurashi had taken it in the typical motherly fashion - unchecked joy, followed by questions about her health and rounded out with homemade baby food recipes she had clipped from the newspaper over the past months "just in case".

"Have you decided on a color for the baby's room?" continued her mother, when Kagome didn't answer.

"Not yet, Mama," she said. "It'll be awhile until we know if it's a boy or a girl. Sesshoumaru isn't much for surprises, so I think we'll be finding out before the baby is born, and we can pick a color when we know. Of course, Sesshoumaru isn't much for _pink_ either."

Both women chuckled. "I wouldn't imagine so," replied Mrs. Higurashi. "How about yellow? I was at the wallpaper store today looking for some colors for your old room, and I noticed an adorable border with yellow stars and blue moons. I brought home a sample."

Kagome gave her mother a good-natured smile, although she couldn't see it. "Alright. I'll look at it next time I come over. Should be the end of this week," she said. She glanced up at the dark sky outside. "A blue moon is certainly appropriate for this house."

"I have to say that I was a little surprised when we first met Sesshoumaru that he had one on his _forehead_." She was laughing again.

"I did warn you, Mama."

"How is he dealing with all of it?" she asked. "Men can react so strangely. Your father didn't speak for three days after I told him I was pregnant with you."

The younger woman shrugged. "Alright. He's being very Sesshoumaru, which is a good thing, I think. I'm pretty sure he's happy about it, but he hasn't talked about it a lot, except about some money stuff. I don't know. I'm starting to think that maybe I don't understand him and his moods as well as I thought. This is what he wanted, but he also wants his company to make a profit every quarter, his shoes to stay unscuffed and his books to be in alphabetical order. Whenever things work out for him, big or small, he never really reacts."

"Maybe it just needs to sink in for awhile," suggested her mother. "Demons could be very different about it, I suppose. They might not view the world the same as us, and we can't look at them the same way as anybody else either."

A spark of fear suddenly burned brightly in her mind as she looked up at the dark sky outside. "Very different," she murmured.

She was just about to make an excuse to get off the phone when there was a soft bang of pots from the other end. "Sorry, dear," started her mother. "It sounds like Sota is home, and he'll be starving, as usual. I'm going to make dinner a bit early tonight, I guess. I'll call you tomorrow about Sota's birthday party, okay?"

They said their goodbyes, and Kagome got to her feet, tossing the phone onto the couch cushions before striding off to Sesshoumaru's office. "I just noticed that it's the new moon," she said, practically before she had even stepped into the room.

His fingers paused over his keyboard. "Is it?" he asked.

"You know it is," she replied with a curt nod, moving to take one of the seats in front of his desk. "You always know things like that."

He turned away from the computer completely. "I suppose the question is," he said, "why does it matter?"

She bowed her head, trying not to think of what a new moon meant long ago and instead, thinking of what it might mean now. "The baby will be a hanyou," she began with such a pedantic tone that she grimaced. "I mean, of course, you know that." She took a breath as Sesshoumaru leaned back in his chair and fixed his golden eyes on her. "It worries me to think about our baby going through that though. I've just realized how little I thought about this."

"It is a simple matter to deal with," her husband murmured. "One night a month is not such a burden."

"Sesshoumaru," she tried again, "most expectant mothers don't have to worry whether their baby will have dog ears. You can pass as human for the most part, but just remember how many people stare at you."

"Expected, considering my position," he interjected. "Then, as well as now."

She put her chin in her hand and gave him a flat look. "You might as well have been invisible compared to how many people stared at Inuyasha. And that was when people still believed in hanyou. Demons don't just wander about openly advertising what they are these days. And children don't normally show up to school with dog ears. What if the baby has your markings? You tell people that they're the result of a 'rebellious past', but a five-year-old with what looks like tattoos on his face will just get hell brought down on us."

"There are ways to hide these things," Sesshoumaru said.

"Really? Then, why don't you use them?" she challenged. She touched her own curved ears and glanced pointedly at where his hair concealed his. "Those must be annoying to hide all the time. You're always in danger of showing your fangs. I can't even imagine how restricting that would be on a child. What are we going to do? Is there magic that can help?"

He stretched one hand out onto his desk, looking at his blunted claws. On the rare days she had woken up at the same time as her husband, she had seen him filing them down before going to work. "I do not use magic, but it is possible that our child could," he said slowly.

"Why don't you?" Kagome asked.

Sesshoumaru took a deep breath, letting it out through his nose. "Despite my reputation for proficiency at anything I attempt, there are certain things at which I have never been gifted."

She blinked. "You mean, you can't perform magic spells? But I've seen you do it. When you change into your other form or that glowing poison whip thing."

"Those are my demonic abilities, inherent to any full youkai of my bloodline. Or it was imbued into my weapons. Learned magic is something different, and I have never been skilled at it." He frowned at her. "That is, of course, something that you will never repeat to anyone."

"No, I won't," she promised. "Do you think that's something else that runs in your family?"

He shrugged. "My father never used magic. But then, he did not need to," he said. "My mother, however, was an gifted sorceress."

"So, it's a crap-shoot."

"Isn't it always?" he asked, standing up. He crossed over to his bookcase and picked out a slim volume without a title. "Despite your sudden fears, I have been considering these matters for quite some time. Before I met you again. Although it is not my forte, youkai still exist that can assist us with this. No one will know how different our child is."

"And what about when he gets older?" she asked.

Sesshoumaru stopped on his way back to his desk. "What do you mean? The same concealment spells that work when he is a child will work when he is an adult."

Kagome gave him a sad smile. "What if he falls in love with a human? You have to admit that it's more than possible that it'll happen."

"It is pointless to speculate as to..."

"No," she interrupted. "It's _not_."

He sighed, putting the unopened book down. "I am still working on a way to lengthen a human's life to match a demon's. For us," he murmured, "but I would imagine that anything I find could be applied to another human just as easily."

Kagome got to her feet and rounded the desk, settling in his lap with casual familiarity. She brushed his hair back, behind his elfin ears, and smiled. "I want to stay with you, too," she murmured. "I've never really worried about it though, until now."

His prosthetic arm kept her in place as his real hand came to rest on her still flat stomach. "Don't," he said simply.

"Yes, sir," she shot back with a lift of her eyebrow.

"I am in control of the situation," he amended. "Of _all _possibilities."

"It's my baby, too," Kagome said. "The only way I'm going to feel better is if I have an actual reason not to worry, not just you telling me to."

He reached across her and picked up the book he had pulled from the shelf. "I know," he agreed, pressing the volume into her hands. "My research for every youkai that could possibly help us. We will conduct interviews, if you wish."

"Very business-like," she murmured, flipping to a random page. _Anahi Shirazi_, it said at the top. _Asiatic lion youkai_. "Iranian?" She looked at the next entry - _Merete Sutphen_. "And Dutch? I thought they would be all Japanese. It'll cost a small fortune to fly all of them here."

"Hardly something that will prevent me from finding the best of help for you and our child," answered Sesshoumaru. "The fox demon is in there for his expertise on magical disguises. In his case, his inherent abilities might be of some use, although I have not discussed it with him."

"Really?" Turning to the back, she found the entry in Sesshoumaru's precise handwriting - _Shippo Wakahisa_. "You did think of everything, didn't you?"

He made a sound at the back of his throat that seemed like righteous indignation at her doubts. Still, his hand had come back to settle on her abdomen, and she realized with a rush of warmth to her heart that he would put up with endless visits from Shippo - even teasing about his own lack of magical skill - if it made this pregnancy easier for her.

She closed the book and looped her arm around his neck, pressing her lips against his temple. "Alright, you got me. Thank you. I'm sorry for freaking out on you."

He held her to him. "I expect more 'freaking out' in the next several months. I am prepared for that, too," he said dryly.

"If you ever became as big as a blimp, I'd like to see how you'd take it," she replied with a grin. "Although, you know, a lot of men gain sympathy weight along with their pregnant wives."

Sesshoumaru snorted. "I would not expect it, if I were you."

Winking at her husband, Kagome got to her feet. "Alright. Be thin and gorgeous while I balloon up in order to carry your child," she teased, before pulling open his desk drawer. "Do you have some extra Post-Its for me to take notes on that book though? And... what is _rattling_ in here?" She ducked her head down to get a better view of what was making a metallic rolling noise.

The dog demon turned quickly, lifting her hands away. "Nothing. Here is a notepad." He grabbed a short stack of yellow sticky notes from the corner of his desk.

Kagome chuckled and opened the drawer again, gently pushing away her husband's offering. "I'm not that easy to distract, Sesshoumaru."

"It is a gift. You should not spoil it for yourself," he said, but he didn't move to stop her again.

"A gift that rattles?" she asked, still giggling.

A pale blue box sat at the back of the drawer, behind the pens, boxes of paperclips and spare rolls of tape. "You already know what it is," Sesshoumaru muttered when she lifted it out and asked wordlessly to open it.

"I have a rough idea," she agreed, pulling the white ribbon away. Nestled inside a soft, suede pouch was a baby rattle - sterling silver and in the shape of a crescent moon. All traces of amusement faded from her face as it rested in her hand. "Sesshoumaru, it's perfect," she whispered.

He tried to give a casual shrug and failed. "I thought it was suitable."

"You really are looking forward to this," she breathed, tracing the smooth edge of the rattle with the pad of her finger. "Being a father. Not just having an heir. I was wondering about that."

"Never doubt it," he said firmly. "You will have to take my word alone for on this matter."

Clutching the baby's gift in her hand, she sprang forward, hugging him again. "I will, I swear! Sesshoumaru, you're going to be _wonderful_ father."

The dog demon felt a few tears splash on his collar as he drew her back into his lap. The cool metal of the silver rattle was pressed between them. "Is this one of those hormonal moments?"

"Maybe," she sniffed into his shirt. "It's not so bad, is it?"

"Hn. It is preferable to unwarranted anger. I can bear this." He drew back out of the embrace after a moment, and defiant golden eyes met hers. "But I still refuse to gain an ounce of weight," he said, making her laugh again.

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A/N: I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, and then, it came to me very quickly over the course of a couple days (that's quickly for me, lol). Then, I fiddled with it for for a bit, and while I'm still not completely happy, especially with the ending, I'm ready to really start wrapping this story up at last. It's gone on for *far* longer than I originally intended, and I have a couple stories that have been waiting to be written for ages. But still, I enjoy putting Sesshoumaru into strange and new situations, so once I figured out how I was going to write it, it was fun. :)

By the way, the rattle at the end is quite real - Tiffany & Co. sells it for the bargain price of $155. LoL. I don't even like or want children, and yet, I kind of covet that adorable rattle. I thought it was fitting for a child of Sesshoumaru's. ;)

Two more parts to this story, so stay tuned!


	8. Vessel

A/N: Dokuga has finished its voting for the 3rd quarter and this fic won 3rd place in Best Canon! Yay! Thank you! :D

Prompt: Duck, Duck Goose  
Genre: Romance, Drama  
AU/CU: Canon, as long as you ignore the last bits of the manga  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Mention of character death, fluff later on, angst  
Word Count: 3431

**Vessel**

Sesshoumaru could almost hear Kagome's heart sink as the newest candidate handed over the thick packets. "I have successfully concealed the youkai heritage of dozens of hanyou and a few full-blooded demons over the past century alone. References are in the last section, under the green tab," the Chinese youkai said. "I have never lost a client due to discovery by humans."

"You are very good, Jia," mumbled Kagome, her voice flat with the platitude. "I can barely sense that you are a demon."

Jia cast a surreptitious glance at her fingers, each one blunted into a perfect, human nail. "You can tell at all, Mrs. Taisho?" she asked, her voice rigid.

"My wife was a miko before we married," said Sesshoumaru, studying the tigress demon more than the packet in his hands. He saw the flicker of surprise cross her face and the small, uncomfortable shift of her shoulders.

"What are you going to do to keep the baby safe?" Kagome asked, not seeming to notice a thing and slowly flipping through the bound proposal. "Will it be magic, or will this plan require us to go into hiding?"

The tigress reached forward and opened Kagome's copy to a neatly labeled table of contents. "Both," she said simply. "Your child will go through a rigorous training schedule in the early years of his life, so that he might conceal his own identity. As you must know by now, it would be difficult and dangerous to have anyone put a concealment spell upon your growing child. He must learn to do it himself. Until then, however, I have outlined a plan to keep the secret. Mr. Taisho informed me that you have a suitable house in the mountains. I believe that would be the best choice - it is secluded, but close enough that Mr. Taisho's drive up from Tokyo each weekend would not be burdensome. We could always send you to one of the few youkai settlements in the world. They're accustomed to having the human parents of hanyou with them, but they are few and far between. The closest is an isolated groups of islands in the middle of the Pacific."

Sesshoumaru heard the sigh in her voice. "I see," she murmured.

He shifted closer a few inches closer. "Is there a problem with this plan that you wish you address?" he asked in a low voice, ignoring Jia.

Kagome gave him a tight smile and a shake of her head. "No. It's exactly what I expected."

He had long ago learned what that tone meant, and he was not surprised when she checked out of the rest of the interview. Her distant expression drew his attention away from the answers the tigress demon gave, and the conversation became stilted as Jia noticed Kagome's distraction. The only sign that his wife was listening was an occasional flinch at words like 'hidden', 'safe' and 'invisible'.

At the first opportune moment, Sesshoumaru stood and stretched his hand out to the demoness. "I appreciate your time. My wife and I must discuss this, but we will contact you soon."

Kagome roused herself long enough to thank Jia. "Of course," the tiger demon replied. "If you have any questions, feel free to call me."

Sesshoumaru summoned the chauffeur to take Jia back to the hotel they had paid for, and when she was gone, he returned to Kagome's side. "What was wrong with this one?" he asked.

"Who said I had a problem with _any _of them?" she asked, stacking the two copies of Jia's proposal and carrying them to Sesshoumaru's office. She slid them into place on the shelf as Sesshoumaru stepped into the room after her.

"Then, you would accept the tigress's plan?"

"It's better than most of the ones we heard," she answered, gesturing to the other half-dozen folders and packets lining the bookshelf.

He bent his head forward in agreement. "Your words imply that you do have a problem with the others. Your demeanor implies a problem with _all_ of them. Tell me, Kagome," he said. "It is not only my choice."

She was obviously struggling to keep the anger out of her expression, but the rare, bitter scent of it spiked as she kept her eyes on the books. "Isn't it? That's not very obvious to me," she muttered. "They want to separate us."

It took him a moment to realize which 'us' she was speaking about. "I doubt that. It is a regrettable necessity. A baby cannot have a spell put upon him. We talked with Shippo about this. Our child must not be seen until he is able to maintain his concealment spell. It is expected that you and the child must hide until that happens."

"I have to hide. The baby has to hide. You don't," she countered. "There's not a single proposal where you have to change anything about your life. They all turn my life upside down, but they wouldn't dare to try changing yours. The great Sesshoumaru Taisho must not be inconvenienced."

He scowled at her. "I did not make it a requirement of them."

She shook her head. "But you accept the plans that do exactly that." She paused and took a breath. "I'm not actually requiring anything of you either, Sesshoumaru. I know that you enjoy your work and your life. But every one of these proposals does the same thing - it separates us, so that you can continue living this life, while I hide in the mountains, in the middle of the Pacific, in the Yukon, or wherever else the baby and I can't be seen. And I will _not_ leave our child, but whatever sacrifices I'm willing to make, losing you for the majority of the year or even the five nights every _week_ is too much. There has to be a better way. Surely, these people haven't thought of everything we could possibly do."

Sesshoumaru moved across the room slowly, tucking his prosthetic hand into his pocket and stopping at his desk. "What is your solution? If you stay in the city, you will be expected to be seen in social circles. You _will_ be seen when you leave the house, and people know you. If we leave the city together, I must surrender my work."

She stepped closer but sank into a chair instead of touching him. "I know you built this company on your own. I do understand how awful it can be to even think of giving it up." She frowned. "Or is it just a pride thing?"

His jaw clenched as instinct overtook him and left him unwilling to speak. But she was his wife, and as she was fond of reminding him - if anyone deserved his honesty, it was her. "Before you returned to this time permanently," he said, "when I was not so certain that I could have lived up to my promise to Inuyasha, I began to believe that my corporation would be my only legacy. It was the only way I would live on after my death."

Her expression softened. "So, it's your kingdom."

"When there are no kingdoms left, except those of stock markets and boardrooms," he said.

"And you always did want to rule the world," she said, giving him a wry smile that lasted only a second. "I don't want you to give that up, Sesshoumaru, but there must be something else we can do."

"I will come up with a better plan than any of these," Sesshoumaru promised, "so that we might both have what we want."

She stood up and put her hands against his chest, reaching up to kiss his jaw. "Babies change so much. I don't think it's going to be what you expect," she said. "I'm happy that you're willing to try, but it'll come down to a choice."

"And what would be your choice?" he asked, running his hand over her shoulder and up her neck. She was so warm these days - the baby made her skin flush with heat, and she often leaned into his cooler touch.

"I'd rather be alone in the mountains and see you each weekend than move to some place in the middle of the ocean and see you a few times a year."

He shook his head. "I would visit more than that," he murmured. "It _would_ be safer to have others around."

"Not worth it," she said immediately. "How often do you have time to leave work? At least you could make the trip to the mountains in a fairly short amount of time if you really wanted to. If I needed you."

He wanted to protest, but he knew she spoke the truth - it was hard enough to spend time with her when they were both in the city. "I will come up with a better plan," he said again after a moment, letting his fingers linger in the hair at the nape of her neck.

She nodded, reaching up to kiss him again. "I know," she murmured against his lips.

* * *

The taiyoukai inclined his head in thanks as Kagome's mother let him into the house. "It's wonderful to see you, Sesshoumaru," said Mrs. Higurashi, as she led the way into the kitchen, "but I am surprised. When you called, I expected that Kagome would be coming with you."

"She does not know that I'm here," he murmured.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "The last time you looked so serious about talking with me, you were asking for permission to marry her."

"This is regarding a matter of equal importance," said the dog demon, taking her wordless invitation to sit at the table. He waited until she put the water on for tea before asking, "Has Kagome informed you of the uniqueness of our situation?"

She gave him a shrewd look. "Hm. Well, it was hard not to realize it on my own, even before she mentioned it," she replied. "Inuyasha was always welcome in this house, and I did love his ears, but he was noticeable in a crowd, wasn't he?"

"That had little to do with his ears and more to do with his mouth," grumbled Sesshoumaru.

She waved a scolding finger at him. "Kagome told me about your father and his mother a long time ago. It sounded like it was difficult for them to have a half-demon, too," she said before smiling in the understanding way she had passed onto her daughter.

"There are some parallels," muttered Sesshoumaru, "but times have changed. Inuyasha was unusual and even feared, but people knew of hanyou before they saw him. But now, in this time, I desire not only my child's safety but to avoid the mistakes that my father made in having Inuyasha."

"Kagome said that he died shortly after Inuyasha was born," said Mrs. Higurashi, pouring hot water into a teapot to steep.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "There were still errors in his judgment." He paused for a moment. "Although, not as many as I once thought."

"You get a lot more understanding of your parents once you have kids of your own."

"And more willing to ask of help when it's needed," he added.

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you're here, Sesshoumaru? You need my help? You have all the money and resources in the world at your fingertips."

He agreed with a soft sound from his throat. "But my wife only has one mother," he replied. "And if she had a choice, I am sure that she would want you to assist her after the baby is born. She does not seem to trust anyone I have suggested. And my trust is not so easily won either. However, I know that you will have Kagome and the baby's best interests in mind."

Mrs. Higurashi smiled gently as she set down the teacups. "What, exactly, are you asking of me, Sesshoumaru? I was already thinking of offering to help out for the first couple of weeks after the baby is born."

"My idea was longer term than that," he replied. "Kagome will be going to our home in the mountains, so that the baby can remain out of sight until he can disguise his hanyou attributes on his own. She will need assistance during the week while I am in the city."

"You're talking about several _years_, then."

"Yes."

The tea was poured in silence. "There's no middle ground? If this is what you're going to do, and if I don't go with her to the mountain house, I will hardly see Kagome or my grandchild."

"Kagome has been asking for a middle ground for weeks," he answered. "This is it. I cannot think of a preferable solution."

Mrs. Higurashi sighed heavily. "Sesshoumaru, I have a life at this shrine, just as my daughter has a life in this city. I can't leave my home, not even for Kagome and my grandchild. I have to take care of Sota. He still needs me, and so does Grandpa. He's getting older, while Sota is still too young to be on his own."

"There is enough room in the mountains for all of you."

"And the shrine?" She shook her head. "It's very nice of you to give up the privacy I know you value, but I couldn't think of it. Sota still needs to go to school, and even if you could provide tutors, he would be separated from his friends. Grandpa would never hear of leaving the shrine anyway."

He nodded. "I expected that would be your response."

"Kagome could have told you the same," said her mother. "I'm wondering if that's really the reason you came over here. To get an answer that you already knew? Or was it for something else? Advice, perhaps?"

"I am far older than you," he said, his brow creasing.

She shrugged. "Like you said, you get more willing to ask for help when it comes to your children. I have two of them, and you've barely begun. It's alright, you know, to be out of your depth here. That's part of the process."

"I need nothing," he murmured. At the flash of disappointment on his mother-in-law's face, Sesshoumaru turned his head away, and his hand tightened around his teacup. "But I admit that I do not want to be apart from Kagome or our child for even a night. She and our child cannot remain here, however, when such social demands are put upon her as the wife of a powerful corporation. And I cannot leave my company to others."

Mrs. Higurashi gave a soft cluck of her tongue. "Kagome mentioned something about that."

Her disapproval was softer than his wife's but just as damning. "I cannot give up my position without giving up some of the luxuries I have provided for your daughter and which I had hoped to provide for our child."

He received a long, serious look. "You make her happy, Sesshoumaru," she said at last. "You brought life back to her after she lost everything, and I will always be thankful for that. But I hope you realize that it's not the money that has helped her recover from all she's been through."

"I am aware of that, but I did promise to take care of her. There are some things that I cannot provide for her," he said as an image of Inuyasha rose, unbidden, to the forefront of his mind, "but I try to compensate for that with a certain lifestyle."

"I took care of her for most of her life here," Mrs. Higurashi said, gesturing to the simple, two-floor home around them. "She was happy here. She would have been happy with Inuyasha, and she didn't even have indoor plumbing on that side of the well." The look of hard scrutiny faded into the soft smile he associated with his mother-in-law. "Do you truly have no better idea than sending my daughter up to the mountains? It doesn't seem like that satisfies the lifestyle you've promised her either."

Sesshoumaru drained his tea to consider it. "Another idea will be necessary if you will not join her in the mountains," he observed. "I will not let her be alone."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded. "I just want to make sure you're not ignoring the obvious."

Even as she spoke, his cell phone beeped with a message for him - a plea for help from one of his vice presidents because of some factory malfunction. He sighed inwardly and stood up. "It seems that I must go back to the office earlier than expected," he stated.

"They just can't do without you, can they?" she asked, standing with him.

"I do not trust them to 'do' without me," he answered. "They are young and foolish."

"Young, as in Kagome's age?" Mrs. Higurashi asked. "Or young, as in my age?"

He wanted to be annoyed at her implications, but she was making the same point Kagome always made - distrusting humans simply because of they could not gain as much experience in their shorter lives didn't make sense. Not when the world was run by humans. But it was still hard to see them as anything more than children - little creatures that were so greedy that they often destroyed what they wanted the most because they didn't have the strength to be patient. Certain humans were exceptions to that, like Kagome, Sophie and a few of his less idiotic colleagues. He wasn't aware that his mother-in-law fell into the category until he had driven over here on his lunch, but it didn't surprise him - she had raised the human he valued the most.

"Young," he said, "in experience."

She laughed softly, accepting his answer. "Tell me if you or Kagome need anything," she said as she opened the door for him. "And you can always stop by, Sesshoumaru."

He thanked her with a word and left, climbing into the back of the limousine at the bottom of the shrine steps. He began repairing the factory crisis in two phone calls, shifting the production to another facility and having a short conversation with the VP that had panicked instead of fixing things - definitely not one of the humans that he considered as anything more than immature and brainless. One of the many reasons Sesshoumaru could not hand the reins of his company over to anyone else.

Still, he _was_ trying to ignore the obvious choice - the choice his father had ignored when he had decided that his ambition was more important than his mate and son.

His father. The late dog demon was the one that started him on this path - for the majority of his youth, his father had demanded perfection and callousness on the battlefield. Even at that time, there weren't many inuyoukai, and the elder male had needed his son to conquer Japan. It was only when later in life that he softened - that was when he began soliloquizing about the importance of finding someone to protect. Later, Sesshoumaru had discovered that that was when he had met Izayoi and taken her as his mistress. His father's ambitions on the battlefield had been redirected into the overwhelming need to protect his human princess and their hanyou child. The final destination of his father's path was something Sesshoumaru became particularly eager to avoid. He had been dedicated to staying on the route to power that his father had abandoned.

The limousine pulled up in front of his corporation's skyscraper, and he gazed up at it through the sunroof. This company was what he had created alone with his ambition. The baby belonged to both him and Kagome - the baby would be not just _his_ heir, but hers as well. And the decision about which one was more important had been made, he realized - it had been written in stone since Kagome had reentered his life. The tough part had been accepting it.

A quick call to his assistant working twenty-eight floors above where he sat was all that was necessary to clear his afternoon and arrange a board meeting for the following Monday. His heart beat faster as he called his wife. "Kagome," he murmured when she picked up, "I must discuss something with you."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied. "But I think I have found our middle ground."

She sighed happily - a welcome sound after days of melancholy. He almost closed his eyes. "I might have thought of something, too," she said. "Want to compare notes?"

He allowed himself the smallest of smiles. "I will be home soon."

* * *

A/N: I interpreted the "Duck, Duck, Goose" theme as a 'choice' kind of thing. Hence the lack of feathered fowl. ;)


	9. Lights in the Sky

A/N: The final part!

Prompt: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star  
Genre: Romance, Drama  
AU/CU: Canon, as long as you ignore the last bits of the manga  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Mention of character death, fluff later on, angst  
Word Count: 2914

**Lights in the Sky**

"I got one of the biggest shocks of my life to see Sesshoumaru standing there. I was almost worried that he'd kill me next."

"You couldn't have thought that."

Kagome smiled at her friend. "You're forgetting that he's almost _wordy_ these days. Back then, he never felt the need to explain himself. Whenever he saved our lives, it seemed to be almost a coincidence. He certainly didn't go out of his way to do it."

Sophie shook her head. "But then, why was he there at all?"

"He said that he wanted to know if Naraku was nearby. Something about Kohaku," said Kagome, looking down into her teacup. "That is a bit strange, now that I think about it. Sesshoumaru never wanted our help with anything before."

"Maybe he liked you, even then. Maybe it was an excuse to save you," suggested Janette from where she was hovering over the stove.

The younger woman laughed. "I was kind of a thorn in his side, if anything. I _still_ think he holds a grudge that I got to Tetsusaiga first. He did try to kill me that time." The other two women sent her surprised looks, and Kagome cleared her throat. She picked up her pen and looked back at them. "Anyway, you think that I should include that part of the story? It seems so random, him showing up like that."

"I still think that if you're going to write about your adventures, you should write down _everything_," said Sophie, taking a sip of her drink. "You shouldn't pick and choose. Even including that bit about Sesshoumaru trying to kill you. You never mentioned that before."

"History is written by the winners, so they say. Or, in this case, by the survivors. You know that story, about how we first met. I might have not been entirely truthful about _how_ angry he was that I got the sword first," Kagome replied. She shrugged. "There are some things that I don't want preserved for eternity."

Janette waved a sauce-covered spoon at her. "Those are the important parts," she said gently. "You can't tell the truth if you only tell half of the story. This isn't for you to remember - it's for your children to know."

"I don't think the children I have with Sesshoumaru need to know that he tried to kill me once or that I was in love with his half-brother," murmured Kagome. "And they _definitely_ wouldn't need to know how much Sesshoumaru hated half-demons once upon a time. It'll give them a complex or something."

"Did he hate half-demons or just his half-brother?" asked Sophie.

"How would that make it better?"

The tall woman leaned back in her chair. "Point taken. But I don't think covering up parts of your shared past will help your children understand where they come from. Their uncle was a half-demon but also strong and capable. I think they would like to know that you loved him for that."

"Besides," added Janette, "we don't want to keep the censored version straight from the version you've told us. And what about Shippo? Are you going to make him leave out bits of the truth, too?"

"It's just that leaving out the love triangle would make it a bit more kid-friendly," Kagome argued weakly.

"Is it kid-friendly, anyway?" asked Sophie with a smile. "Demons. Blood. Gore. Sword fights. You've lived such an exciting life - it might not be for children, but it should be told."

Kagome relaxed her shoulders and put down her pen, sliding the pad of paper away from her. "I suppose. It didn't feel so exciting at the time. More like terrifying," she said. "I probably wasn't terrified nearly often enough. Inuyasha always saved me. I had such faith in him that I forgot how dangerous it was. It's hard to imagine these days." She reached down and ran a finger over the white scar along the back of her calf - one of two healed wounds that served as a reminder of her time in the past.

"You were young. Of course you didn't understand your own mortality. I tell you what though - I can imagine Sesshoumaru as a lord, with no trouble at all," Janette said with a little sigh.

A blush swept up, over Kagome's face. "He was beautiful," she admitted with a sigh. "I always thought so. He was covered in armor and white silk and this huge fluffy thing over his shoulder that made him look even more threatening - which was quite impressive, considering how cozy it must have been. But he was so cold. He could silence a room with a look."

"He can _still_ do that," laughed Sophie. "You weren't at the last board meeting. All that gossiping, and then, he walked into the room. I think I could hear my neighbor's heartbeat in the dead quiet."

"I know," said Kagome with a smirk. "He was rather proud of himself after that one."

"He boasted about it?" asked Sophie, her eyes going wide.

"Sesshoumaru _never_ boasts," Kagome replied.

"Not out loud, anyway," added Janette, grinning.

A cry rose from the one-way radio sitting in the middle of the kitchen table, and all three women went still. "Should I?" asked Sophie when another, more plaintive wail pierced the air.

Kagome got to her feet. "I'm not forcing you to be a nanny just because you've agreed to tutor Miyu when she gets older. Besides, I think Janette is doing more than enough by cooking on her one night off from the restaurant," she replied with a wink.

"You were going to use _canned_ white sauce!" Janette said, sounding scandalized as the younger woman left the room. "I couldn't allow it!"

Laughing to herself, Kagome made her way down the corridor to the nursery but paused on the threshold. "Oh. Did Miyu disturb you?"

Sesshoumaru glanced up at her as he lifted their infant daughter from the crib. The moment her head fell against her father's shoulder, she quieted and blinked her liquid gold eyes at her mother. "No," he murmured.

Kagome crossed the room and switched off the baby monitor with a flick of her wrist. "This house is so much smaller than the other one, and your office is awfully close to the nursery. With your sense of hearing, it must be..."

"Fine," finished Sesshoumaru, shaking his head slightly. "I was already here."

"You've been in here a lot this past week," Kagome said, stepping closer to him. "Is something wrong at work?"

"Stepping down from the CEO's position has eased my responsibilities considerably," answered the taiyoukai.

"And increased your worries considerably, too, I would imagine." She gave him an understanding smile. "You always were a take-charge kind of person, Sesshoumaru."

He arched an eyebrow. "I still am taking charge. The mundane details are no longer my concern, but remember that I still am the majority shareholder and chairman of the board of directors. I may not be CEO anymore, but I can choose anyone I wish to be CEO in my place." He closed the distance between them, laying his free hand on her hip. "I do not regret that decision."

Kagome placed a palm on her daughter's back as she lay cradled against Sesshoumaru's chest. "I have to check every once in awhile, to make sure. This life isn't exactly what you were expecting. It wasn't what we were _living_ a year ago."

"You did warn me," he said, "but I do not see sacrifices. I see fair trades for all of them."

She lifted her eyes to meet his. "Is that right?"

He nodded. "You know how I detested paying the electricity bill on our larger house."

Kagome put her forehead against his collarbone and laughed. "Be serious."

"I am."

She slid her hand up to his pointed ears that he could now openly display in their home. "And this? Is this the trade for no live-in servants hanging around every corner?"

"Among other things." He squeezed her hip for emphasis, earning her startled giggle.

"And what about Sophie? What's the trade for sharing her with me?"

"I don't have to have three more assistants pestering me about everything on my calendar," he said with a smirk.

"A simpler life is a better one?"

"It seems that way." He glanced at the velvety, white ears of his daughter that twitched under his breath. "I'm not certain I would use the term 'simple', however."

Kagome smiled. "Simple as we can get," she said. "I'm glad that she doesn't have to hide within her own home. She shouldn't be ashamed of what she is."

"Is that the reason you are writing down our shared past?" he asked.

She sobered immediately, wondering how long he had known about it. Probably as long as she had been contemplating it - she hadn't been keeping it a secret. Not intentionally. "Partly," she admitted. "It was just an idea. I've meaning to discuss it with you. I know we told Sophie and Janette about all of it mostly out of necessity, but I want our children to know, too." Her voice softened. "And I feel like it might exorcise a few of those last ghosts that we have."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "I would prefer to leave any ghosts in the past."

She nodded, entirely understanding him. "Unfortunately, they kind of follow you around," she said. She paused. "You never talk about her, Sesshoumaru."

"There is a reason for that," he answered. "She is mine alone to remember."

"And is Inuyasha mine?" she asked. "I've never known you to be selfish, Sesshoumaru."

"He was my half-brother. There is a reason for my minimum investment in his life. Rin was nothing to you."

Her eyes widened. "That's unfair. Rin is _everything_ to me. Do you think we would be here, together, if not for her?" She took a breath and turned her gaze away as a flash of annoyance crossed his face. "Please, don't answer that. I don't want to fight about it. I won't make you tell me anything. Dinner will be ready soon, anyway." She took Miyu out of his arms and turned to the door.

"Would you be satisfying your own curiosity?" he asked.

She stopped and looked back at him. "Yes," she answered truthfully, "but not out of jealousy. I'm done being envious of the dead."

There was a call from the kitchen - Janette informing them that dinner was, in fact, on the table. Kagome shifted Miyu higher up on her shoulder and smiled at her husband. "Forget I asked, okay? Come and eat with us. Janette's made something amazing from the odds and ends in our pantry."

He nodded, turning the baby monitor back on before following her down the corridor.

* * *

She was curled up in the middle of their bed with her notepad, pretending that she didn't know he was hovering in the doorway to her right. Miyu was asleep down the hall. Sophie and Janette had gone home hours ago. Kagome could guess what Sesshoumaru was so hesitant to discuss. It took five pages of scribbled notes for him to approach her, stretching out beside her and waiting for her to settle against his shoulder.

"You are intent upon this project," he said, gesturing to the notebook.

"Of course," she answered as she folded back another page and put it into his hands. "We didn't exactly meet at our local coffee shop, Sesshoumaru."

"And what do you want from me? You could manage this on your own."

She nodded. "I could, but it wouldn't be finished without your side of things." She watched him flip the notebook back to the first page - the rough outline of how she had fallen down the Well and how she had found Inuyasha pinned to the Goshinboku.

"You do not know how I met her," he said.

Kagome shook her head. "Explanations weren't exactly your forte back then."

"Nor are they now," he countered. "But I will try, if you wish."

"I told you that you didn't have to talk about her," murmured his wife. "But it _would_ be nice to know. I was right about how much I owe to her, wasn't I?"

He inclined his head slightly. "I promised I would not forget her."

She leaned back, putting her cheek on his shoulder to look up at him. "I understand wanting to keep her to yourself," she said. "I feel that way about some things, too. But I don't think Rin would mind if you shared your memories of her, and I don't think Inuyasha or the other would mind if I told you about them. If we tell Miyu everything, and if I write it down..."

"I will have more than fulfilled my promise," he finished for her. "None of them will be forgotten."

"That was the idea," she whispered. "Things are already getting mixed up in my mind. Fading. I don't want to forget anything. But I mostly want to do this in case something happens to me. Or to you. Miyu will still know."

His hand crossed over his body to grab her arm where it rested on his stomach. "You will be there to tell her yourself," he insisted.

She gently pried his fingers loose and encircled his shoulders with her arms. "You can't swear to something like that," she said against his neck.

"I am close. Maddeningly close."

"Something could still happen to me, even if you managed it." She put the tips of her fingers onto his lips, silencing his protest. "Something could just as easily happen to you, too. And, just so you know, if it does, I do not regret my life with you," she said, recalling his fears about Rin. She put her mouth against his ear. "I love my life. And I love you, Sesshoumaru."

He stilled, as she expected him to. She had told him that she loved him before - for months, she had been dropping little 'love you's at the end of phone conversations or when she was about to step out of the house. But the difference here was inescapable. She let her hand fall away from his lips and waited.

"I have loved you for some time," he murmured.

Her breath caught. "Sesshoumaru..."

"When I speak, it is the truth," he cut in. "I refuse to repeat my mistakes. And while I am close to keeping you with me, I am aware that time is never a luxury to be depended upon. I do love you, and I will admit it, so that you may be certain."

She curled into him, trying to keep a hold on the rapid beat of her heart through willpower alone - fussing about the long overdue declarations would only make any future admissions that much more rare. "And I am." Kagome pressed a tender kiss to his clenched jaw. "It'll get easier to say," she assured him, not able to help herself.

He pulled her closer. "Have you ever known me to falter in the face of difficulty?" he asked.

"No," she affirmed with a grin. She plucked at the front of his buttoned shirt. "You're over-dressed for bed," she murmured, tucking herself underneath his arm and rolling onto her back before yawning widely. The stars were sparkling through the skylight above them - a rare, clear night in the city. She thought of her nights outside in the Feudal Era, knowing she had never felt as safe as she did now.

He brushed her silky hair back from her neck. "You should go to sleep," he observed. "It's past midnight, and, for once, Miyu is quiet. You should take advantage of this rare moment of peace and rest."

She turned her head, nuzzling his magenta stripes with the tip of her nose. "I want to stay awake and talk, like we did when I was pregnant."

"That was different. You couldn't sleep, and simply I kept you company."

"Please," she insisted. "It was tiring, but I miss it."

"I suppose we may stay here for a little while," he conceded, his hand wrapping around the curve of her waist. "Tell me."

Kagome smiled for her small victory. "Tell you?" she asked.

"Start at the beginning of your story," he said patiently. "Then, I will tell you what you want to know."

"We'll never finish all that tonight."

"No, we may not. We may move on to activities significantly more pleasing than speaking of my half-brother," he said, prompting a small sound of loving exasperation from his wife. "We may be interrupted at any moment by our daughter. But, until then, we will tell each other what we remember."

"Do we have to go in chronological order?" she asked, looking up at the stars again.

"I think we have some flexibility," he murmured.

She pulled him close, so that he was facing her and his warm breath was on her skin. "Good," Kagome said, "because I'm dying to know what was going on in that head of yours whenever we met."

"Mostly, how much of a pest you were," Sesshoumaru answered.

"Jerk!" she laughed.

He took a breath. "And, at times, how undeservedly fortunate Inuyasha was to have such a devoted female at his side," he added, and her expression softened. "Beyond that, you will have to be more specific."

Kagome left a lingering kiss at the curve of his jaw and began, "Well, there was that time we were fighting the Band of Seven..."

* * *

A/N: Please, if anyone finds my muse, can you tell her to get her butt back to my place? Her absence resulted in no less than seven versions of this final chapter.

But... but... I finished! :D This story took just over 9 months to complete - it was supposed to be a 2 or 3 month project at most, lol. That's fine. I'm finally pleased with this last chapter, and I'm free to start a story that's been on the back burner for FAR too long. Brace yourselves, guys - the main pairing is *not* Sess/Kag. Try not to faint. LoL. I'm going to try to get a chapter or two of "Beside You in Time" out before I start posting the new story though. We'll see if that dang muse returns to me. :P


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